Wiktionary

most

See also: Most, móst, mōst, mošt, -most, and мост

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

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 formsEdit

DeterminerEdit

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.
SynonymsEdit
  • (superlative of much): more than half of (in meaning, not grammar), almost all
  • (superlative of many): the majority of (in meaning, not grammar)
TranslationsEdit

AdverbEdit

most (not comparable)

  1. Forms the superlative of many adjectives.
    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.
    • 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. […]”
    Antonym: least
  2. To a great extent or degree; highly; very.
    This is a most unusual specimen.
  3. superlative degree of many (Should we delete(+) this sense?)
    Most times when I go hiking I wear boots.
  4. superlative degree of much
    • 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.
    Antonym: least
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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

AdjectiveEdit

most (not comparable)

  1. (slang, dated) The greatest; the best.
    • 1978 September 14, Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, Bronte Woodard; Randal Kleiser, director, Grease‎[4], 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?

PronounEdit

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.
SynonymsEdit

NounEdit

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 notesEdit
  • In the sense of record, used when the positive denotation of best does not apply.
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

Reduction of almost.

AdverbEdit

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.”
TranslationsEdit
almost — see almost

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • most at OneLook Dictionary Search

AnagramsEdit

CatalanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin mustum.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

most m (plural mosts or mostos)

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

Further readingEdit

CzechEdit

 
Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

most m inan

  1. bridge

DeclensionEdit

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

Derived termsEdit

See alsoEdit

Further readingEdit

  • most in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • most in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • most in Internetová jazyková příručka

DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin mustum.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

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)

FriulianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin mustum.

NounEdit

most m (plural mosts)

  1. must (unfermented grape juice or wine)

HungarianEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

AdverbEdit

most

  1. now

DeclensionEdit

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

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  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 readingEdit

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

Lower SorbianEdit

NounEdit

most m (diminutive mosćik)

  1. Superseded spelling of móst.

DeclensionEdit

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 EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

NounEdit

most

  1. Alternative form of must

Etymology 2Edit

VerbEdit

most

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

Norwegian BokmålEdit

 
Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

EtymologyEdit

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

NounEdit

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

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

ReferencesEdit

Norwegian NynorskEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

NounEdit

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

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

ReferencesEdit

Old High GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin mustum.

NounEdit

most m

  1. must

DescendantsEdit

  • German: Most

PolishEdit

 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl
 
most

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

most m inan (diminutive mościk, augmentative mościsko)

  1. bridge (building over a river or valley)

DeclensionEdit

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 termsEdit

adjective
adverb
nouns
verb
phrase

Further readingEdit

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

Serbo-CroatianEdit

 
Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sh

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

mȏst m (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ст)

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

DeclensionEdit

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 termsEdit

SlovakEdit

 
Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sk

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

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

  1. bridge

DeclensionEdit

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

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

  • most in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

SloveneEdit

 
Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sl

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

mọ̑st m inan

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

InflectionEdit

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
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 readingEdit

  • “most”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

VolapükEdit

NounEdit

most (nominative plural mosts)

  1. monster

DeclensionEdit

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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