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most

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "most"

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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    From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

    Alternative forms

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    Determiner

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    most

    1. superlative degree of much.
      The teams competed to see who could collect (the) most money.
      I spent most time in Rome because most of Venice is flooded.
    2. superlative degree of many: the comparatively largest number of (construed with the definite article)
      The team with the most points wins.
    3. superlative degree of many: the majority of; more than half of (construed without the definite article)
      Most bakers and dairy farmers have to get up early.
      Winning was not important for most participants.
    Synonyms
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    • (superlative of much): more than half of (in meaning, not grammar), almost all
    • (superlative of many): the majority of (in meaning, not grammar)
    Translations
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    Adverb

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    most (not comparable)

    1. Forms the superlative of many adjectives.
      Antonym: least
      This is the most important example.
      Correctness is most important.
      • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 77:
        With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.
      • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
        “ […] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes […] . And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […] ”
    2. To a great extent or degree; highly; very.
      This is a most unusual specimen.
    3. superlative degree of much
      • 2013 August 3, “Boundary Problems”, in The Economist‎[2], volume 408, number 8847:
        Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.
    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Adjective

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    most (not comparable)

    1. (slang, dated) The greatest; the best.
      • 1978 September 14, Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, Bronte Woodard, directed by Randal Kleiser, Grease‎[3] (film), spoken by Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner):
        PATTY:They announced this year's nominees for student council. And guess who's up for vice-president? Me! Isn't that the most to say the least?

    Pronoun

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    most

    1. The greater part of a group, especially a group of people.
      Most want the best for their children.
      The peach was juicier and more flavourful than most.
    Synonyms
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    Noun

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    The Tea room(+) is discussing this entry at the moment.
    Please come along and share your opinions on this and the other topics being discussed there.

    most (usually uncountable, plural mosts)

    1. (uncountable) The greatest amount.
      The most I can offer for the house is $150,000.
    2. (countable, uncountable) The greater part.
      Most of the penguins were friendly and curious.
      Most of the rice was spoiled.
      • 1892, Walter Besant, “The Select Circle”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 46:
        At half-past nine on this Saturday evening the parlor of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for the select circle—a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:
        The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. […] The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.
      • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:
        Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.
    3. (countable) A record-setting amount.
      • 2001, George Barna, Real Teens: A Contemporary Snapshot of Youth Culture, →ISBN, page 15:
        Along with their massive size will come other “mosts”: they will likely be the longest living, the best educated, the wealthiest and the most wired/ wireless.
      • 2002, John Gregory Selby, Virginians at War: The Civil War Experiences of Seven Young Confederates, →ISBN, page xvii:
        Virginia had a number of "mosts” that made it appealing, if not representative of all Confederate states: the most citizens among the Southern states; the most slaves; the most men under arms; the most famous Southern generals; the most fighting within its borders; the most divided by the war (what other Southern state lost a quarter of its territory and saw a new state created out of that former territory?); and the most damaged by the war.
      • 2007, Joe Moscheo, The Gospel Side of Elvis, →ISBN:
        The record of Elvis' achievement is truly remarkable; his list of “firsts” and “mosts” is probably without parallel in music and entertainment history.
    Usage notes
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    • In the sense of record, used when the positive denotation of best does not apply.
    Translations
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    Etymology 2

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      Reduction of almost.

      Adverb

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      most (not comparable)

      1. (informal, chiefly US) Almost.
        • 1998, Bill Zehme, The Way You Wear Your Hat: And the Lost Art of Livin' (page 181)
          A well-daiquiried redhead eyed him from across the room at Jilly's one night in 1963 — although it could have been most any night ever […]
        • 2000, Jewish Baltimore: A Family Album, →ISBN, page 159:
          "We walked there most every day after school."
        • 2011, Charlotte Maclay, Wanted: A Dad to Brag About, →ISBN:
          “Can't be all that bad if Luke likes it. Most everywhere has air-conditioning, he says.”
      Usage notes
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      This use of the word must precede a noun phrase and is restricted to positive polarity. One would not say  most nobody understands this or  I most fell down climbing up the stairs.

      Translations
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      See also

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      References

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      • “most”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

      Anagrams

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      Catalan

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      Etymology

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      Inherited from Latin mustum.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      most m (plural mosts or mostos)

      1. must (fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented)

      Derived terms

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      Further reading

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      Czech

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      Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia cs

      Etymology

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      Inherited from Old Czech most, from Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      most m inan (diminutive můstek or mostek or mostík)

      1. bridge

      Declension

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      Declension of most (hard masculine inanimate)
      singular plural
      nominative most mosty
      genitive mostu mostů
      dative mostu mostům
      accusative most mosty
      vocative moste mosty
      locative mostě mostech
      instrumental mostem mosty

      Derived terms

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      See also

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      Further reading

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      Dutch

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      Etymology

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      From Latin mustum.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      most m (uncountable, diminutive mostje n)

      1. must (unfermented or partially fermented mashed grapes or rarely other fruits, an early stage in the production of wine)

      Friulian

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      Etymology

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      From Latin mustum.

      Noun

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      most m (plural mosts)

      1. must (unfermented grape juice or wine)

      Hungarian

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      Etymology

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      From the earlier ma (“now”), which in modern Hungarian means “today” + -st. For the suffix, compare valamelyest.[1]

      Pronunciation

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      Adverb

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      most

      1. now

      Declension

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      It can be suffixed from its (otherwise folksy) variant mostan: mostantól (“from now on”), mostanra (“by now”), mostanig (“until now”), or the latter more commonly formed with -a-, mostanáig (“until now”):

      Inflection of most
      singular plural
      nominative most —
      accusative — —
      dative — —
      instrumental — —
      causal-final — —
      translative — —
      terminative mostanáig
      (mostanig)             		—
      essive-formal — —
      essive-modal — —
      inessive — —
      superessive — —
      adessive — —
      illative — —
      sublative mostanra —
      allative — —
      elative — —
      delative — —
      ablative mostantól —
      non-attributive
      possessive – singular       		— —
      non-attributive
      possessive – plural       		— —

      Derived terms

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      References

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      1. ^ most in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)

      Further reading

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      • most in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

      Lower Sorbian

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      Noun

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      most m inan (diminutive mosćik)

      1. superseded spelling of móst

      Declension

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      Declension of most
      Singular Dual Plural
      Nominative most mosta mosty
      Genitive mosta mostowu mostow
      Dative mostoju mostoma mostam
      Accusative most mosta mosty
      Instrumental mostom mostoma mostami
      Locative mosće mostoma mostach

      Middle English

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      Etymology 1

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      Noun

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      most

      1. alternative form of must

      Etymology 2

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      Verb

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      most

      1. second-person singular present indicative of moten (“to have to”)

      Norwegian Bokmål

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      Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia no

      Etymology

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      From Middle Low German most, must, from Latin mustum.

      Noun

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      most m (definite singular mosten, indefinite plural moster, definite plural mostene)

      1. must, (unfermented) fruit juice, particularly grape juice

      References

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      Norwegian Nynorsk

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      Etymology

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      From Middle Low German most, must, from Latin mustum.

      Noun

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      most m (definite singular mosten, indefinite plural mostar, definite plural mostane)

      1. must, (unfermented) fruit juice, particularly grape juice

      References

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      Old Czech

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      Etymology

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      Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mostъ.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      most m inan

      1. bridge

      Declension

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      Declension of most (hard o-stem)
      singular dual plural
      nominative most mosty mosti, mostové
      genitive mosta, mostu mostú mostóv
      dative mostu mostoma mostóm
      accusative most mosty mosty
      vocative moste mosty mosti, mostové
      locative mostě, mostu mostú mostiech
      instrumental mostem mostoma mosty
      This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

      Derived terms

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      Descendants

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      • Czech: most

      Further reading

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      Old English

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      Verb

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      mōst

      1. second-person singular present indicative of mōtan

      Old High German

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      Etymology

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      From Proto-West Germanic *must.

      Noun

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      most m

      1. must

      Descendants

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      Polish

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      Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia pl
      most

      Etymology

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      Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mȍstъ (“bridge”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      most m inan (diminutive mościk, augmentative mościsko)

      1. bridge (building over a river or valley)

      Declension

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      Declension of most
      singular plural
      nominative most mosty
      genitive mostu mostów
      dative mostowi mostom
      accusative most mosty
      instrumental mostem mostami
      locative moście mostach
      vocative moście mosty

      Derived terms

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      adjective
      adverb
      nouns
      verb
      phrase

      Further reading

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      • most in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
      • most in Polish dictionaries at PWN

      Serbo-Croatian

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      Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia sh

      Etymology

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      Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      mȏst m inan (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ст)

      1. bridge (construction or natural feature that spans a divide)
        Synonym: ćuprija
        Mostovi okruga Medison ― The Bridges of Madison County
        Most špijunȃ ― Bridge of Spies

      Declension

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      Declension of most
      singular plural
      nominative mȏst mòstovi
      genitive mȍsta mostova
      dative mostu mostovima
      accusative most mostove
      vocative moste mostovi
      locative mostu mostovima
      instrumental mostom mostovima

      Derived terms

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      Further reading

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      • “most”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

      Slovak

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      Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia sk

      Etymology

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      Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      most m inan (relational adjective mostný or mostový, diminutive mostík or môstik)

      1. bridge

      Declension

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      Declension of most
      (pattern dub)
      singularplural
      nominativemostmosty
      genitivemostamostov
      dativemostumostom
      accusativemostmosty
      locativemostemostoch
      instrumentalmostommostami,
      mostmi

      Further reading

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      • “most”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

      Slovene

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      Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia sl

      Etymology

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      From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      mọ̑st m inan

      1. bridge (construction or natural feature that spans a divide)

      Declension

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      Declension of most
      nom. sing. most
      gen. sing. mostu
      singular dual plural
      nominative most mostova mostovi
      accusative most mostova mostove
      genitive mostu mostov mostov
      dative mostu mostovoma mostovom
      locative mostu mostovih mostovih
      instrumental mostom mostovoma mostovi
      		The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
      Masculine inan., hard o-stem
      nom. sing. móst
      gen. sing. mósta
      singular dual plural
      nominative
      (imenovȃlnik)       		móst mósta mósti
      genitive
      (rodȋlnik)       		mósta móstov móstov
      dative
      (dajȃlnik)       		móstu móstoma móstom
      accusative
      (tožȋlnik)       		móst mósta móste
      locative
      (mẹ̑stnik)       		móstu móstih móstih
      instrumental
      (orọ̑dnik)       		móstom móstoma mósti

      Further reading

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      • “most”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
      • “most”, in Termania, Amebis
      • See also the general references

      Volapük

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      Noun

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      most (nominative plural mosts)

      1. monster

      Declension

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      Declension of most
      singular plural
      nominative most mosts
      genitive mosta mostas
      dative moste mostes
      accusative mosti mostis
      vocative 1 o most! o mosts!
      predicative 2 mostu mostus

      1 status as a case is disputed
      2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

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