most

English Online Dictionary. What means most‎? What does most mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mōst, IPA^(key): /ˈməʊst/
• (General American) enPR: mōst, IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊst/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈmoːst]
• 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”).

Alternative forms

• moste (obsolete)

Determiner

most

1. superlative degree of much.

2. superlative degree of many: the comparatively largest number of (construed with the definite article)

3. superlative degree of many: the majority of; more than half of (construed without the definite article)

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
2. To a great extent or degree; highly; very.
3. superlative degree of much

Derived terms

Related terms

• more

Translations

Adjective

most (not comparable)

1. (slang, dated) The greatest; the best.

Pronoun

most

1. The greater part of a group, especially a group of people.

Synonyms

• (greater part): the majority

Noun

most (usually uncountable, plural mosts)

1. (uncountable) The greatest amount.

2. (countable, uncountable) The greater part.
3. (countable) A record-setting amount.

Usage notes

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

Translations

Etymology 2

Reduction of almost.

Adverb

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 […]

Usage notes

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

See also

• Thesaurus:quantifier

References

• “most”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• smot, TMOs, MTSO, mots, MOTs, SOTM, toms, Toms

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin mustum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈmost]

Noun

most m (plural mosts or mostos)

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

Further reading

• “most” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “most”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “most” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “most” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Czech

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmost]

Noun

most m inan (diminutive můstek or mostek or mostík)

1. bridge

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• lávka

Further reading

• “most”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “most”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “most”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin mustum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔst/
• Hyphenation: most
• Rhymes: -ɔst
• Homophone: Most

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmoʃt]
• Rhymes: -oʃt

Adverb

most

1. now

Declension

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”):

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• 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 Sorbian

Noun

most m inan (diminutive mosćik)

1. Superseded spelling of móst.

Declension

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

most

1. Alternative form of must

Etymology 2

Verb

most

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

Norwegian Bokmål

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

• “most” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “most” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

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

• “most” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mostъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈmost/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈmost/

Noun

most m inan

1. bridge

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Czech: most

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “most”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old English

Verb

mōst

1. second-person singular present indicative of mōtan

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *must.

Noun

most m

1. must

Descendants

• German: Most

Polish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔst/
• Rhymes: -ɔst
• Syllabification: most

Noun

most m inan (diminutive mościk, augmentative mościsko)

1. bridge (building over a river or valley)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

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

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /môːst/

Noun

mȏst m (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ст)

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

Declension

Derived terms

Slovak

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɔst]

Noun

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

1. bridge

Declension

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, 2003–2024

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /móːst/

Noun

mọ̑st m inan

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

Inflection

Further reading

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

Volapük

Noun

most (nominative plural mosts)

1. monster

Declension