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highestadj.n.adv. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: < the Germanic base of high adj. + the Germanic base of -est suffix; compare Old Frisian hāgist, Old Dutch hōist, Old Saxon hōhost, hōhist, Old High German hōhost, Old Icelandic hæstr, Gothic hauhist-.By regular phonological development the inherited forms of the superlative would originally have shown i-mutation caused by the suffix (compare discussion at -est suffix), loss (or assimilation) of the stem-final fricative, and contraction of the suffix; see α. forms. The form hext (compare next adj., adv., and n.) survives into 19th-cent. regional English (compare quot. 18542 at sense B. 4). However, already in Old English the forms are frequently subject to the influence of the positive form hēah high adj. in various degrees. The β. and γ. forms are essentially re-formations from high adj. The δ. forms derive from stem forms of higher adj., adv., and n.1 A. adj.the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [adjective] the world > space > relative position > high position > [adjective] > in highest position the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > [adjective] > highest society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [adjective] > of highest social rank the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > [adjective] > loudest OE Cynewulf 749 We men sculon..tilgan þæt we to þam hyhstan hrofe gestigan halgum weorcum, þær is hyht ond blis. OE Homily: De Sancto Iohanne (Corpus Cambr. 198) in (1885) 8 477 Þonn fleogeð se fugel and asett hine on þæt heagoste treow þe is on Paradisum. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 14049 Þatt hæfedd mann þatt heȝhesst wass Att tatt bridale settledd. a1225 (c1200) (1888) 145 (MED) Ac ich ilieue þat þu art heiȝest godd, and orefull and forȝiuenlich. a1250 (?a1200) (Titus) (1963) 139 Dunes bitacnen þa þat leaden hehest lif; Hulles arn þe lahre. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 69 Wateres fallynge of þe hiȝest hill of Paradys. a1402 J. Trevisa tr. R. Fitzralph (Harl.) (1925) 47 Þei beþ y-bounde to beggerie & to þe heiȝest pouerte. 1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry (1971) xlviii. 70 The waters..surmounted by heyght of ten Cubites vpon the hyhest montayn. 1559 W. Baldwin et al. Salisbury xxxvi Whan helth and welth is hyest. 1563 L. Humphrey sig. s.iiv But what in these dayes, is done by those, who fill the highest honoures, and empyres, so god saue me, my talk blusheth to tell. 1634 H. Peacham (new ed.) xxiii. 80 You must deepen your colours so that the Orpiment may be the highest. 1691 C. Havers 7 The Origin therefore, even of the highest Animal, being from an Egg. 1736 Bp. J. Butler ii. vi. 222 Doubtful, in the highest supposeable Degree. 1786 T. Baldwin xxxviii. 167 The highest visible white Clouds. 1816 U. Brown Jrnl. in (1916) 11 358 Thence up said River 3 Miles to John Rush's where we put up & was kindly treated, he being the highest setler up that River. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vi, in 2nd Ser. II. 145 Screaming at the highest pitch of her cracked and mistuned voice. 1871 E. A. Freeman IV. xvii. 70 The results of this change have been of the highest moment. 1903 Feb. 327/1 Hull hastened forward and halted at the Rapids of the Miami, reaching there the highest settlement on that river. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1136 We have now climbed the evolutionary ladder of the plant kingdom and reached the highest rung. 2011 J. Hughes ii. 24 The fort marked the highest navigable point on the Mississippi. 1599 T. Nashe 37 Our moderne phisitions..propound veale for one of the highest nourishers. 1644 J. Howell tr. F. Pallavicino xii. 66 My favours were still expos'd to the highest offerer. 1680 J. Dryden v. i. 52 Your coupled Spaniels, when they are once let loose, are afterwards the highest Rangers. 1702 No. 3832/4 To be sold to the highest Bidder. 1819 Ld. Byron clxv. 201 The highest reachers Of eloquence in piety and prose. 1875 J. Southward (ed. 2) 58 The number of quads with the nicks appearing uppermost are counted,..the highest thrower being the winner. 1918 Feb. 123/2 Rosie Bosch..proved to be the highest achiever in the Poultry Club Work. 1945 A. L. Guérard x. 197 In France the financial resources of the realm were farmed out to the highest bidder. 1975 P. Beaumont in B. A. Whitton i. 36 The highest producer of sediment is undoubtedly Asia. 2010 (National ed.) 14 Sept. b15/2 He was among the highest scorers on the team in the Beep aerobic fitness test. B. n. 1. eOE tr. Bede (Tanner) i. xiii. 54 Gregorius se halga wer, se wæs on lare & on dæde se hehsta, feng to biscophade þære Romaniscan cyrican. lOE (Laud) anno 1101 Þis þa mid aðe gefestnodan xii þa hihste of ægðre healfe. lOE (Corpus Cambr.) (1997) 84 His fæder & his moder wæron æfre mid þan heagestan & mid þan betstan geteald innen þæra ilcan burh. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 1163 Þa hehste of þan hirde. c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 1314 in C. Horstmann (1887) 144 (MED) Eorles, barones, and bischopes, þe hexte of þe londe. ?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius (BL Add. 10340) (1868) ii. pr. ii. l. 873 I tourne þe whirlyng whele wiþ þe tournyng cercle. I am glade to chaunge þe lowest to þe heyeste. 1480 (Caxton) (1964) 20 The grete lordes I shall name The prelats of holy chirche... Fyrst of the hyest That is of our holy fadre. 1558 J. Knox f. 31 Frome the highest to the lowest, all were declined frome the. 1609 R. Gray sig. Kv Let vs al, from the highest to the lowest, fall downe and kneele before the Lord our maker. 1651 J. Drew 38 The highest in the world doe, or should Minister to others, as Trustees for the Publique. 1750 J. Wesley i. i. 6 A Genus is either the Highest, or a Subaltern. 1843 E. B. Pusey 15 Lowest is joined on with highest, earth with heaven..man with God. 1916 15 Dec. 10/5 If there was one man in France who was trusted by every one from the highest to the lowest,..it was Sir Douglas Haig. 2007 R. Lovegrove i. 24 The wearing of certain furs was the privilege of only the highest in the land. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] eOE tr. Bede (Tanner) iv. iii. 268 Ac ge ne leornodon: Quia intonuit de celo dominus et altissimus dedit uocem suam.., ðætte Drihten hleoðrað of heofonum & se hehsta seleð his stefne? OE 7 Þæs Hehstan mægen þe [sc. Mary] ymbscineþ. a1225 (c1200) (1888) 9 Ero similis altissimo, Ic scal bien ȝelich ðan heisten. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. viii. xi. 474 Þe hiest made þe worlde to þe liknes of a spere. ?a1475 (1922) 105 He xal be grett, þe son of þe hyest clepyd. a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xvii. §15. 61 The heghest gaf his voice. 1535 Psalms lxxii[i]. 11 Is there knowlege in the most hyest? a1628 Sir J. Beaumont Epiphany in E. Farr (1848) 143 Since vnder this low roofe the Highest lay. 1732 i. Ded. 2 The Son of the Highest died to satisfy for it [sc. sin]. 1791 G. Butt I. x. 196 Can we then wonder, that when..the re-illumination was promised by the birth of the Messiah, that the same benevolent beings sang hosanna to the highest. 1846 R. C. Trench Introd. iv. 46 The Virgin-born, the Son of the Most Highest. 1883 A. M. Fairbairn i. ii. 85 Religion is thus the point where man touches the Highest, and the Highest penetrates and transfigures man. 1911 J. Hastings 522 Our Lord's joy was found among the sublimities; in communion with the Highest. 2006 iii. 92 It is therefore by the example of Jesus that one can gain a greater understanding as to the true nature of the Father, the Highest. the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > a high position > highest position the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > state of or advanced condition > highest point eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius (Otho) (2009) I. v. 398 Þa niðemystan ic gebringe æt þæm hehstan, & þa hehstan æt ðæm niðemæstan. OE (Tiber.) (2007) 321 Si uideris quod de altissimo cadas desubtus : gif þu gesihst þæt of hehstum þu fealst niþer. c1225 (?c1200) (Royal) (1934) 35 (MED) From þe heste in heouene to þe laheste in helle. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xx. 324 And som mete þat is good in þe bigynnynge of þe euel is greuous whanne þe euel is at þe hiȝest [L. in summo]. c1400 ( G. Chaucer (Brussels) (1940) ii. §14. f. 88 Seke bisily with thi rule the heyȝest of the sunne in myddes of the day. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 161v (MED) To mollifie þe materie or nature to þe hiest [L. ad summum] or vttermoste..is a competent rewle. 1526 W. Bonde iii. sig. AAiiv Whan the sonne is in the hyest. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach ii. f. 59 After the Sunne hath been at the highest. 1659 W. Montagu 62 So not by the first step, but by this gradation, Love ascends unto its highest. 1688 S. Penton A vj b At this time, when Writing, both as to Substance..and Ornament of Language, is at highest. 1785 Oct. 515/2 The water rushed out of the closes on the north side of the Gallowgate, and ran over the top of the side-walls of the bridge in that street, when it was at the highest. 1847 13 238/1 When the Influenza panic seemed at the highest..it was not a little gratifying to Mr. Punch to find that his contributors, though sick, were at their duty. 1882 P. B. Du Chaillu II. xxxvi. 412 When the well-fed flames are at the highest, a ring is formed by the young men and women. 1969 June 12/3 His speech..will place added emphasis on the seasonal attraction of the martial arts, when interest is at the highest and lowest. 2000 Aug. 7/2 Plant growth climbed to its highest over the three long window strips, which were entirely obscured by the jungle. the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [noun] > best thing or person eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory (Hatton) (1871) xvi. 103 He hine gebæd on muntum..ðæt hie ne scolden forhyggean ðone geferscipe ðara synfulra & ðara ungetydra, ðeh ðe hi selfe wilnien ðæs heahstan [L. summa contemplando appetunt]. ?1574 C. Vitell tr. ‘Fidelitas’ sig. A8 The lowlie Humble ones..do in such-sort rightlie inherit with God and his Sainctes, the Highest of the Glorie of God and the Lambe. 1643 J. Milton 17 He who affirms adultery to be the highest breach, affirms the bed to be the highest of mariage. 1740 S. Richardson II. 75 It..may be said to be God-like, and that is the highest that can be said. 1818 S. T. Coleridge 10 Mar. (2002) III. 4397 The Fullness of Nature is without character as Water is purest when without taste, smell or color—but this is the Highest, the Apex, not the whole. 1867 J. A. Froude 1st Ser. I. 110 Such a man..is, decent and respectable; but the highest is not in him, and the highest will not come out of him. 1918 J. D. Adam xiii. 132 The truest patriotism implies that each shall bring the highest that he knows, the best that is in him, to this service. 2005 R. Milder in G. Gunn 52 An agnosticism raised to the emotional tenor of religion by an arduous fidelity to the highest in himself. the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > [noun] > that which is within > interior part(s) > innermost part lOE lxxi. 16 Erit firmamentum in terra in summis montium : byð trymnes on eorþan on hyhstan muntan. ?c1400 in J. O. Halliwell (1839) 65 Þan loke even vp..to þe heyest of þe toure..and þat highest of þe toure sale hight F. 1484 W. Caxton tr. iii. i. f. liiij He retorned ageyn in to the hyest of the woode. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. lv. 76 He come to the hyest of the hyll. 1563 J. Shute sig. Div Deuide the hanging line from the highest of the Abacus. 1634 T. Herbert 59 At the highest of this Palace, is cut..the Images of a King. 1672 V. Mullineaux tr. J. E. Nieremberg iv. i. 343 If a Milstone were thrown from the highest of the Firmament, and should every hour fall two hundred miles, it would be 90 years before it arrived at the Earth. 1777–8 R. Wight (MS Bodl. Eng. lang. d.66) 211 Take away the hext of it first. 1854 S. T. Dobell xxiv. 172 At the highest of the creaking house Lo the strewn rushes, and a hush of awe! 1854 A. E. Baker I. 321 ‘I've taken the hext of the dirt off the table,’ i.e. the uppermost or thickest part of the dirt is removed. When any work is nearly completed, the hext of it is done. 1958 (U.S. National Res. Council) iii. 151 The manifold connections to the evaporating-condensing doublets therefore lead to free surfaces whose distance below the highest of the meniscus..is less than three inches. C. adv.the world > space > relative position > high position > [adverb] > highest the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in the greatest degree or most > in or to the highest degree OE 110 On þam [sc. June] gim astihð on heofenas up hyhst on geare, tungla torhtust. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) l. 14082 Mi-seolf ich wulle hine an-hon haxst alre warien. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 439 He..sette him heist [Fairf. heyest] in his hall. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4363 She canne..whirle adown and ouer turne Who sittith hieghst. c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 495 in W. M. Metcalfe (1896) I. 123 Þocht þe eyrne fle heyeste. 1530 J. Palsgrave Introd. 16 The frenche men judgyng a worde to be most parfaytly herde, whan his last end is sounded hyghest, use generally to gyve theyr accent upon the last syllable onely. 1570 in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xxii. 46 Quha heichest clymmis the soner may thay slyde. 1645 No. 93. 833 Write down their names which raile highest against Britanicus. 1657 R. Ligon 6 Trying which of them can leap highest. 1726 J. Swift II. iii. iii. 46 The King, when he is highest provoked. 1784 Sir J. Reynolds in C. R. Leslie & T. Taylor (1865) II. viii. 459 Vying with each other who should pepper highest. 1849 T. B. Macaulay II. x. 645 At the very moment at which their disputes ran highest. 1880 Oct. 319 The hour when Nature seems most to rejoice; when birds sing highest, brooks run freshest, and flowers look sweetest. 1913 J. Muir i. 18 We tried to see who could climb highest on the crumbling peaks and crags. 1972 D. McCulloch xxi. 474 It would be ‘her remarkable talent as a peacemaker’..that he would praise highest. 2010 E. Verhagen in D. J. Caina et al. xxiii. 330/1 Biomechanical studies have revealed an increased incidence in jumper's knee among those athletes who jump highest. Phrasessociety > faith > worship > [adverb] > to the heavens the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [adverb] > in Heaven the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > in or to the greatest degree OE 81 Þu þe come on Drihtnes naman, hæl us on þæm hehstan. 1526 Matt. xxi. f. xxix Hosianna in the hyest [L. osanna in altissimis, Gk. ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις]. 1582 Luke ii. 14 Glorie in the highest to God [Wycliffite in the hiȝist thingis; 1526 Tyndale an hye; 1539 Great on hye; 1560 Geneva in the hye heauens, L. in altissimis, Gk. ἐν ὑψίστοις]. 1611 Luke ii. 14 Glory to God in the highest . View more context for this quotation 1697 J. Everard 10 By Believing the Gospel Preached there is room enough in God's Mercy, for the whole Creation, Glory to the Lord in the Highest. 1770 Dec. 554/1 To listen..to the mouths of babes and almost sucklings, pouring forth the praises of God in the highest, and their gratitude for men's good will. a1832 H. Boyd (1850) 23 An angel..proclaims Her unity, in loud hosanna strains. Hosanna in the highest! 1897 12 June 651/2 To praise in the highest ‘The Cloister and the Hearth’ is to echo Sir Walter Besant. 1928 C. E. Russell xiv. 225 Glory to man in the highest, for he is the master of things. 1983 J. A. Martin in J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck 208/2 The angel was then joined by a great company of other angels engaged in praising God in the highest. 2001 Y. Martel (2002) xv. 45 He is the lord overcomer of obstacles,..the patron of learning. Simpatico in the highest. Compoundsc1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 667 (MED) Kyng Naulus sone, hiȝest born of blood. c1454 R. Pecock 10 Who euer..is best and hiȝest leernyd man..he is best clerk. 1594 W. Shakespeare ii. i. 8 And ouer-looks the highest piering hills. View more context for this quotation 1601 W. Cornwallis sig. F6 Men of the highest erected States haue died. 1657 J. Roys 320 The highest grown Christians in this life are in their infancy, as it were till they arrive at heaven. 1757 A. G. II. ix. 149 This occasioned the highest flown strain of compliments, that the ladies had conducted for many a day. 1796 T. Holcroft ii. iii. 18 Well, her Ladyship is certainly the highest bred woman in the kingdom. 1837 J. B. Ker (new ed.) II. 96 The highest sounding, the most evident part of the song, the chorus. 1877 Royal Comm. Railway Accidents: Minutes of Evid. 653/2 in (C. 1637-I) XLVIII. 173 Is he the highest paid man of your porter staff?—He is in the lowest class. 1928 20 July 20/3 The highest-yielding clone has latex vessels of much smaller bore than the lowest-yielding clone. 1974 1 Feb. 11/2 The..battle should be a run-and-gun affair matching the Big Ten's two highest scoring clubs. 2012 29 Oct. 79/2 Photographs showing them smiling next to the highest-ranking politicians they knew. C2. Compounds of the adjective. a. Forming superlative adjectives corresponding to compounds of high adj.a1626 A. Lake Serm. St. Maries Oxf. 479 in (1629) The highest minded sinners, their thoughts are but base and earthly. 1658 R. Brathwait 86 If vertue..tax such vices as raigne now and then Amongst the best and highest-ranked men..; what's her reward But present censure, torture afterward? 1789 C. Beaumont 39 All this danger and loss to the consumer, coal and ship owners, would be prevented, by fixing the highest priced coal, through the year, at thirty-seven shillings per London chaldron. 1820 Oct. 114 The highest peaked hill between the Sutlej and the Jumna..is the Choor. 1844 37 40 Lava..would glide along the under part of the solid crust, and settle at the highest vaulted cavities. 1903 iii. 360 Auctioneer Judy called for a..ringer for..[the man] who had sold the highest-priced beef steer in the world. 1993 (Nexis) 20 Apr. 56 The resulting bowl would provide 86,000 seats under the highest roofed sports stadium in the northern hemisphere. 2013 (Nexis) 26 Aug. (Sports section) 41 You either need to own a bank or rob one to afford the highest-priced tickets. 1839 10 Aug. 377/1 Mr. Bottomly had made at least twenty-one entries, by the assistance of deputy Campbell, in every case by the highest cost package of each invoice. 1859 29 Apr. 1/5 (advt.) To be disposed of, Six Dozen of Thompson and Croft's highest quality port, vintage 1820. 1907 June 699/2 (advt.) We..sell highest-grade receivers. 1967 E. U. Condon & H. Odishaw (ed. 2) ix. xi. 273/2 It also appears now that the highest-energy cosmic-ray particles may be of extragalactic origin. 1993 Winter m23/1 The Studio codec supports ‘adaptive compression’, which allows the dynamic adjustment of compression levels to get the highest-quality image possible for each frame. 2012 (Nexis) 7 Aug. a17 The Pickering A Nuclear Station, meanwhile, recently won the dubious honour of being the highest-cost nuclear power plant in North America. b. 1830 G. Peacock 126 We may divide or multiply either A or B, by a factor which is not common to both, or which has no divisor common to both, without affecting the dimensions or form of their highest common factor. 1881 G. A. Wentworth vii. 88 The Highest Common Factor of two or more expressions is the product of all the factors common to the two expressions. 1932 R. A. Knox i. 9 Since the time of the ill-fated Cowper-Temple clause we have given up trying to solve ecclesiastical disputes on the principle of the Highest Common Factor. 2010 (Nexis) 29 May 128 The common factors of 12 and 18 are 1, 2, 3 and 6; the highest common factor is 6. eOE (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xx. 46 Eart þe selfa [sc. God] þæt hehste good. lOE King Ælfred tr. St. Augustine (Vitell.) (1922) i. 42 Hu ne habbe wyt nu genoh sweotole gereaht þæt wisdom ys þæt hehste good? a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. xii. 77 Þey [sc. dominaciones] neuer turneth hem to vanite but alwey to þe hiȝest god. ?1535 tr. M. Luther sig. h.ii Whether he trusted faythfully in the name of god or no, and allowed it for ye hyghest good that is or no. 1597 H. Lok sig. Aiiijv Ecclesiastes the preacher..instituteth thy manly thoughts to the inquisition of the highest good. 1678 R. Cudworth tr. Simplicius in i. iv. 566 The..Highest of Souls..are..so near a kin to that Highest Good of all, that they do Naturally and Indivulsively cleave to the same. 1796 Mar. 372/2 Would he not view his greatest happiness to be his highest good; and feel himself under obligation to promote it? 1882 H. C. Merivale II. i. xix. 43 Which is likely..to become before long the highest good of these worrisome days. 1954 6 204 Daniello, more a preacher than a poet, was concerned with teaching us quietly, in a predicatorial trichotomy, that Heaven is the seat of the highest good. 2009 (National ed.) 26 Mar. a23/2 A peculiarly Madagascan concept, fihavanana, which places the highest good on maintaining existing social ties. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  adj.n.adv.eOE |
