above all

Adverb

Synonyms: most importantly most especially first and last

WordNet 3.0

Adverb (2)

above and beyond all other consideration“above all, you must be independent”Synonyms: most importantly most especially
taking everything together“she was first and last a scientist”Synonyms: first and last

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Above \A*bove"\, prep. [OE. above, aboven, abuffe, AS. abufon; an (or on) on + be by + ufan upward; cf. Goth. uf under. [root]199. See Over.]

1.In or to a higher place; higher than; on or over the upper surface; over; -- opposed to below or beneath. [1913 Webster]

Fowl that may fly above the earth.— Gen. i. 20.[1913 Webster]

2.Figuratively, higher than; superior to in any respect; surpassing; beyond; higher in measure or degree than; as, things above comprehension; above mean actions; conduct above reproach. "Thy worth . . . is actions above my gifts." --Marlowe. [1913 Webster]

I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun.— Acts xxxvi. 13.[1913 Webster]

3.Surpassing in number or quantity; more than; as, above a hundred. (Passing into the adverbial sense. See Above, adv., 4.) [1913 Webster]

above all, before every other consideration; chiefly; in preference to other things. [1913 Webster]

Over and above, prep. or adv., besides; in addition to. [1913 Webster]