alderliefest

English

WOTD – 20 November 2023

Etymology

From Middle English alderlevest (“dearest of all”), from alder- (“of all, very”, prefix forming the superlative of adjectives or adverbs) (the genitive plural of al (“all, entirely, utterly, very”)) + lefest, levest (“dearest, most beloved”) (from lef, leve (“beloved or dear to someone”) (from Old English lēof (“beloved, dear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to admire, praise; to covet, desire; to love”)) + -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs)). The English word is analysable as alder- ((archaic) prefix meaning ‘having the greatest degree of something, of all’) +‎ lief (“(archaic) beloved, dear”, adjective) +‎ -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs).

cognates

• Dutch allerliefst
• German allerliebst

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɔːldəˈliːfɪst/, /ˈɒldəliːfɪst/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔldəɹˌlifɪst/, /ˈɑl-/
• Hyphenation: al‧der‧lief‧est

Adjective

alderliefest (not comparable)

1. (archaic or obsolete) Often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 120, column 1:

     VVith you mine Alder liefeſt Soueraigne, / Makes me the bolder to ſalute my King, / VVith ruder termes, ſuch as my vvit affoords, / And ouer ioy of heart doth miniſter.

   • 1879, John Kingston James, Day Dreams, […], London: […] [Charles Whittingham at the Chiswick Press] for private circulation, →OCLC, page 31:

     Ye alderliefeſt Dublin hills! / On leaving you my full heart fills, / And fill mine eyes with tears, […]

   • 1983, Leon Rooke, chapter 1, in Shakespeare’s Dog […], Don Mills, Toronto, Ont.: Stoddart, →ISBN, page 16:

     It would be "my alderliefest this" and "my alderliefest that", enough to make even a dog's toes curl.

Usage notes

• Common in Elizabethan English (during the reign of Elizabeth I, 1558–1603), where it was already an archaism.

Alternative forms

• alder-liefest, alderlievest

Hypernyms

• See Thesaurus:beloved

Translations

often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved — see beloved

Anagrams

• liedertafels