most

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Hergilei (talk | contribs) as of 09:19, 6 January 2020.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Most, móst, mōst, mošt, -most, and мост

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: mōst, IPA(key): /ˈməʊst/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: mōst, IPA(key): /ˈmoʊst/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -əʊst

Etymology 1

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”).

Determiner

most

  1. superlative degree of much.
    The teams competed to see who could collect the most money.
  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
  • (superlative of much): more than half of (in meaning, not grammar), almost all
  • (superlative of many): the majority of (in meaning, not grammar)
Translations

Adverb

most (not comparable)

  1. Forms the superlative of many adjectives.
    Antonym: least
    This is the most important example.
    Correctness is most important.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      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.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎[1]:
      “[…] 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.
    • 1750, “Theodora”, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music)‎[2]:
      Most cruel edict! Sure, thy generous soul, Septimius, abhors the dreadful task of persecution.
    • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
      Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.
  3. superlative form of many: most many
  4. superlative form of much: most much
    Antonym: least
    • 2013 August 3, “Boundary Problems”, in The Economist‎[3], 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
Translations
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

Pronoun

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

Noun

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.
    • Template:RQ:WBsnt IvryGt
      At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess‎[4]:
      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.
    Most of the rice was spoiled.
  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
  • In the sense of record, used when the positive denotation of best does not apply.

Etymology 2

Reduction of almost.

Adverb

most (not comparable)

  1. (informal, chiefly US) Almost.
    • 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.”
Translations

References

  • “most”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin mustum.

Noun

most m (plural mosts or mostos)

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

Further reading

Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

Pronunciation

Noun

most m inan

  1. bridge

Declension

Template:cs-decl-noun

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin mustum.

Pronunciation

Noun

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

Etymology

From Latin mustum.

Noun

most m (plural mosts)

  1. must (unfermented grape juice or wine)

Hungarian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adverb

most

  1. now

Derived terms

References

  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.)

Lower Sorbian

Noun

most m ? (diminutive mosćik)

  1. Superseded spelling of móst.

Declension

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

From Middle Low German most, must, from Latin mustum

Noun

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

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

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Low German most, must, from Latin mustum

Noun

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

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

References

Old High German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mustum.

Noun

most m

  1. must

Descendants

  • German: Most

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl
most

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

Pronunciation

Noun

most m inan

  1. bridge (building over a river or valley)

Declension

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

Further reading

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

Pronunciation

Noun

mȏst m (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ст)

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

Declension

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

Template:mid2

Slovak

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

Pronunciation

Noun

most m (genitive singular mosta, nominative plural mosty, genitive plural mostov, declension pattern of dub)

  1. bridge

Declension

Declension of most
singular plural
nominative most mosty
genitive mosta mostov
dative mostu mostom
accusative most mosty
locative moste mostoch
instrumental mostom mostami

Derived terms

Further reading

  • “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, 2024

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

Pronunciation

Noun

mọ̑st m inan

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

Inflection

Declension of most (irregular)
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

Volapük

Noun

most (nominative plural mosts)

  1. monster

Declension

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
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=most&oldid=58304784"