Where does “maistly” come from?

maistly (Scots) comes from Scots maist, from Old English mǣst, from Proto-Germanic maistaz, from Proto-Germanic mikilaz, from Proto-Indo-European meǵa-.

maistly (Scots): mostly, almost, nearly; most of all, especially

Definitions

  1. mostly, almost, nearly; most of all, especially

Ancestry of “maistly”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Scotsmaistmost, chief, principal, most powerful
2Old Englishmǣstmost
3Proto-Germanicmaistazsuperlative degree of *mikilaz; most
4Proto-Germanicmikilazgreat, large; much, many
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmeǵa-—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European meǵa- →Every word from Proto-Germanic mikilaz →Every word from Proto-Germanic maistaz →