Where does “most” come from?
most (Middle English) comes from Old English mǣst, from Proto-Germanic maistaz, from Proto-Germanic mikilaz, from Proto-Indo-European meǵa-.
Ancestry of “most”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | mǣst | most |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | maistaz | superlative degree of *mikilaz; most |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | mikilaz | great, large; much, many |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | meǵa- | — |
Words derived from “most”