# dominant

Pronunciation: US say "DAH-muh-nuhnt" /ˈdɑmənənt/; UK say "DOM-i-nuhnt" /ˈdɒmɪnənt/

## Adjective

1. Holding the most power, control, or influence over others or over events.
   - Simple: Having the most power or control over others.
   - _The dominant political party controlled both houses of the legislature._
   - _Over centuries, one ruling family stayed dominant across the whole region._
2. The most widespread, common, or important among a set of things or ideas.
   - Simple: Most important or most common in a place or group.
   - _English has become the dominant language of international business._
   - _By the 1990s, personal computers were the dominant form of home technology._
3. Preferred and controlled with greater skill than its counterpart, as the right hand of a right-handed person.
   - Simple: Stronger and used more skillfully than its pair, like the hand you write with.
   - _Surgeons rely heavily on the fine control of their dominant hand._
   - _He gradually regained strength in his dominant arm after the surgery._
8. Relating to or built upon the fifth tone of the scale.
   - Simple: Belonging to or based on the fifth note of a scale.
   - _The piece modulates briefly into the dominant key._
   - _He added a dominant seventh to sharpen the tension before the cadence._
10. Designating the ovarian follicle that survives while the others degenerate, going on to release an egg at ovulation.
   - Simple: Describing the one ovarian follicle that keeps growing and finally releases an egg.
   - _Ultrasound revealed a dominant follicle ready to ovulate._
   - _Only the dominant follicle completes maturation, while the rest break down._

## Noun

4. The species or organism that is most prevalent and influential within an ecological community.
   - Simple: A plant or animal type that is the most common and important in its area.
   - _Ecologists identified the beech as the dominant throughout the upland forests._
   - _After the fire, fast-growing shrubs emerged as the new dominants._
5. The partner who takes the controlling role in sadomasochistic sexual activity.
   - Simple: The partner who takes control in certain kinds of sexual play.
   - _As the dominant, he was responsible for respecting the agreed limits._
   - _The two partners discussed boundaries carefully before the dominant took charge._
6. The fifth major tone of a musical scale, lying five steps above the keynote, so that G is that tone in the scale of C.
   - Simple: The fifth note of a musical scale, counting upward from the main note.
   - _She resolved the melody from the dominant to the tonic._
   - _In D major, the dominant is A._
7. The three-note chord formed on the fifth degree of the scale, the dominant tone.
   - Simple: The three-note chord built on the fifth note of the scale.
   - _The progression lands on the dominant before returning home to the tonic._
   - _She played the dominant with an added seventh for extra tension._
9. Of an allele, producing the same visible trait whether paired with a matching allele or a different one.
   - Simple: Describes a gene form that shows its effect even when paired with a different one.
   - _Because the allele is dominant, a single copy produces the trait._
   - _Huntington's disease is caused by a dominant allele._

## Origin

From Middle French dominant.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dominant (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).