Webster's English Dictionary

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dominant

1. dom.i.nant \-n*nt\ aj [MF or L; MF, fr. L dominant-, dominans, prp. of 
   dominari] 1: commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others  2: 
   overlooking and commanding from a superior elevation  3: of, relating to, 
   or exerting ecological dominance  of paired bodily structures  4: being the 
   more effective or predominant one in action {~ eye}  of an allele  5: 
   predominating over a contrasting allele in its manifestationM, SOVEREIGN 
   mean superior to all others in power, influence, or importance. DOMINANT 
   applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling {a 
   dominant social class}; PREDOMINANT applies to something that exerts, often 
   temporarily, the most marked influence {a predominant emotion}; PARAMOUNT 
   implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction; PREPONDERANT 
   applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or 
   effect {preponderant evidence in his favor}; SOVEREIGN indicates quality or 
   rank to which everything else is clearly subordinate or inferior - 
   dom.i.nant.ly av SYN syn DOMINANT, PREDOMINANT, PARAMOUNT, PREPONDERANT) 
2. dominant n 1a: a dominant genetic character or factor  1b: any of one or 
   more kinds of organism (as a species) in an ecological as sociation that 
   exerts a controlling influence on the environment and thereby largely 
   determines what other kinds of organisms share in the association 2: the 
   fifth note of the diatonic scale