Where does “mest” come from?

mest (Old Saxon) comes from Proto-Germanic maistaz, from Proto-Germanic mikilaz, from Proto-Indo-European meǵa-.

mest (Old Saxon): most

Definitions

  1. most

Ancestry of “mest”, step by step

mest traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Proto-Germanic maistaz

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanicmaistazsuperlative degree of *mikilaz; most
2Proto-Germanicmikilazgreat, large; much, many
3Proto-Indo-Europeanmeǵa-—

via Proto-Germanic maist

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanicmaistmost, to the greatest degree
Every word from Proto-Indo-European meǵa- →Every word from Proto-Germanic mikilaz →Every word from Proto-Germanic maistaz →