Where does “uppermost” come from?

Uppermost derives from Middle English -most combined with upper, which comes from Old English -mest, a superlative suffix meaning "most."

uppermost (English): At or nearest the top of something; superlative...

Definitions

  1. At or nearest the top of something; superlative...

Ancestry of “uppermost”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-mostFurthest; -est; "used to form superlatives of...
2Middle English-most
3Old English-mestmost; used to form the superlative of certain words, such as cardinal directions
4Proto-Germanic*-umistaz
Every word from Proto-Germanic *-umistaz