Where does “most” come from?

Almost derives from Old English mǣst, from Proto-Germanic maist, from Proto-Germanic mikilaz, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root med- meaning to measure or middle.

most (English): superlative degree of much; superlative degree of...

Definitions

  1. superlative degree of much; superlative degree of...

Ancestry of “most”, step by step

most traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English most

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmost—
2Old Englishmǣstmost
3Proto-Germanicmaistazsuperlative degree of *mikilaz; most
4Proto-Germanicmikilazgreat, large; much, many
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmeǵa-—

via English almost

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishalmostVery close to, not quite; Something or someone...
2Old Englisheallmǣstnearly all, almost, for the most part

Words derived from “most”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European meǵa- →