eminent [LME] Eminent ‘outstanding’ and eminence [ME] go back to Latin eminere ‘jut, project’. The French expression éminence grise, literally ‘grey eminence’ for someone who has power without an official position, has been used in English since the 1830s. The term was originally used in French of His Eminence the Cardinal Richelieu’s grey-cloaked private secretary, Père Joseph (1577–1638). The Latin eminere is also found in pre- eminence [ME] and prominent [LME].