mostadj.pron.n.adv.

Brit.

/məʊst/, U.S.

/moʊst/

Forms:

α. Old English–early Middle English mæst, Old English (chiefly Kentish)–Middle English mest, late Old English–early Middle English meast, early Middle English mæste, early Middle English measte, Middle English meest, Middle English meeste, Middle English meste.

β. Old English (Northumbrian)–Middle English (northern) maast, Old English (Northumbrian)–1600s mast, early Middle English masst ( Ormulum), Middle English maste (northern); English regional (northern) 1600s maste, 1800s maast, 1800s maiyast, 1800s meast, 1800s myast, 1800s myest, 1800s– maist, 1800s– measst, 1800s– meeast; Scottish pre-1700 maiste, pre-1700 mast, pre-1700 maste, pre-1700 mayest, pre-1700 mayst, pre-1700 meist, pre-1700 messt, pre-1700 mest, pre-1700 1700s–1800s meast, pre-1700 1700s– maist, pre-1700 1800s maest, 1700s–1800s 'maist (in senses B. 4 and C. 4); Irish English 1800s– maist.

γ. Middle English moist, Middle English muste, Middle English 1600s moest, Middle English–1500s moast, Middle English–1500s moost, Middle English–1500s mooste, Middle English–1600s moste, Middle English–1600s must, Middle English– most, 1500s moaste; English regional 1800s– moast (southern), 1800s– mooast (Lancashire), 1800s– moost (southern), 1700s– 'most (in senses B. 4 and C. 4), 1800s– mwoast (southern), 1800s– mwust (southern), 1900s– must (Suffolk); U.S. regional and nonstandard (chiefly in African-American usage) 1800s– mos'; Scottish pre-1700 moist, pre-1700 moiste, pre-1700 moost, pre-1700 mooste, pre-1700 moste, pre-1700 1700s– most.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian māst , Middle Dutch meest (Dutch meest ), Old Saxon mēst , Middle Low German mēst , meist , Old High German meist (Middle High German meist , German meist ), Old Icelandic mestr , Swedish mest , Danish mest , Gothic maists most < a suffixed (superlative: see -est suffix) form of the Germanic base of mo adv.¹Old English māst , the normal Old English development of the Germanic form, is attested only in Northumbrian, but it is not certain whether it existed only in that region. The vowel quality of the usual Old English form (West Saxon mǣst , Kentish mēst ) is unusual. It may have been formed by analogy with lǣst least adj. (or perhaps by i-mutation from an earlier form in ā , although this presents phonological difficulties). The reflex of this form survived in the south until the 15th cent. The establishment of the (originally northern) form most as the only form in the midlands and south was probably due to the influence of the related mo adv.¹ and more adj. Some forms show early shortening of the vowel before the consonant cluster -st (e.g. masst in the β. forms, must in the γ. forms). Some early Middle English examples of mast from southern texts probably also show a shortening of Old English ǣ (compare α. forms). Occasional forms (e.g. Older Scots mest , messt in the β. forms) probably show the influence of early Scandinavian. The southern form most , occasionally spelt moist , was often used by Scottish poets during the 15th and 16th centuries. N.E.D. (1908) records also a 15th-cent. form myst labelled as from Norfolk, although without exemplification; support has not been found for this elsewhere. In branches A. I., A. II., and A. III. the adjective expresses the superlative degree corresponding to modern English great , many , and much respectively. Branch A. III., like the corresponding uses of much and more , probably arose mainly from use as noun in sense B. 1. In sense C. 4 the word is often written 'maist , 'most and understood as an aphetic form of almost , which may be (wholly or partly) its actual origin: compare the Scots form amaist and English regional or nonstandard amost (see further almost adv.).

A. adj. and determiner. As a superlative corresponding to senses of the positive adjectives great, many, and much.

I. = greatest adj. 1.

†1. Greatest in size, stature, bulk, or extent. Chiefly Scottish in later use. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > largest

mostOE

greatestc1300

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 32 Soþlice þonne hit wyxþ hit is ealra wyrta mæst.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5509 Hes þohten heom beon on fest, Þer þe hulles weore mest.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 351 (MED) Brut corineus fond Þe strengost man & mest him þouȝte of eni lond.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 385 (MED) Þe moste mountaynez on mor þenne watz no more dryȝe.

?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 102 (MED) Fra þeine men gase..til..Cassay, þe whilk es þe maste [Fr. la plus grande] citee of þe werld.

c1480 (a1400) St. Vincent 358 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 269 Na beste mycht tuth lay on hyme, mast ne leste.

a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. Prol. 14 Hervist to rendir hys frutis maste and leste.

1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. D.ij^v The braine is diuided into three partes..of which the foremost part is the moste.

1593 Edinb. Test. XXV. f. 105^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mast(e To..hir sone the maist and best pan.

1633 Edinb. Test. LVI. f. 73, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mast(e My maist & best pott.

†2. Chiefly attributive. Greatest in degree.

a. As a superlative of comparison: greatest in degree or extent; utmost; esp. (of an emotion or other internal state) greatest in intensity. Obsolete.Later examples of most modifying an abstract noun are here interpreted as having an implicit sense of quantity and have been treated at sense A. 6a; cf. more adj. 1f, 2a, much adj. 1c, 2a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > greatest in quantity, amount, or degree

mosteOE

utmosta1325

uttermore1382

utterestc1386

uttermost1429

outmost1447

utter1513

supreme1571

summoperous1647

top1714

mostest1882

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > greatest in degree or extent

mosteOE

overest1481

supereminent1531

supremec1550

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. xi. 109 Þonne þæt gefeoht mæst wære.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1111 Ðises geares..gewearð se mæsta orfcwealm þe ænig mann mihte gemunan.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5328 Þe maste lufe he shæweþþ þær. Þatt aniȝ mann maȝȝ shæwenn.

c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 14 (MED) Tis ilke unhope is ham meast pine.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 3702 He hafuede mod-kare mest of alre monne.

c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 651 To hire was mi meste wene, For to habbe to mi Quene.

c1395 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 199 Hir mooste wonder was How that it koude go on, and was of bras.

?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. i. pr. iii. 73 This is my moste purpoos..to displesen to wikkide men.

c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) 10968 (MED) Þat was hyr most desyre.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 989 The swerde fayled hym at hys moste nede.

1587 T. Saunders True Discr. Voiage Tripolie sig. Ciij^v I had the Italian and Spanish toongs, by which their most trafike in that countrie is.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 76 The sence of death is most in apprehension.

c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 54 [Thy] tressonabill murthoure quhille thaw wold have punised with maist rigoure gif it had bene done be ony uther persons.

1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. iii. vi. 414 The most imaginable Fatigue and Industry.

b. As an intensive superlative: very great. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme

strangec1380

overpassinga1382

passinga1387

most?c1430

extremec1460

horriblea1464

violenta1500

mainc1540

immortal?c1550

exquisite1552

sore1555

three-piled1598

thundering1618

devilish1639

shrewda1643

deadly1660

woundy1681

vast1696

monstrous1711

mortal1716

terrific1743

hell-fired1754

hellish1764

colossal1794

severe1805

awful1818

all-fired1829

terrible1829

quare and1847

ferocious1877

pluperfect1889

raging1889

giddy1896

utter1898

stiff1905

?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 174 Þes prestis þat wole not helpe here maistris out of þis moste peril.

1479 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 619 I wryght not so largely to yow as I wold do, for I haue not most leyser.

c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. (1821) I. vi Quhen Priapus..Raqueistit me in his maist tendernes To rest ane quhile amid his gardingis bare.

1555 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. xliii. 118 So likewise is freewil a most untruth undoubtedly.

a1612 W. Fowler Wks. (1914) I. 325 Messt spreit in cariage, no girning in his face.

a. Modifying a noun which expresses a proportion of a whole. Now usually in (the) most part (of). In later use frequently denoting a comparatively larger proportion of a whole; ‘the greater or better part (of)’.In Old and early Middle English only modifying deal n.¹; from the 14th cent. onwards chiefly modifying part n.¹Occasionally (without the or of) forming adverbial phrases (cf. sense A. 3b). In quot. c1275 at sense A. 1 the adverbial accusative mesten dæl is used as a noun in the nominative. most end: especially (see quot. a1400: variant readings are namlikest and maste I traw); cf. most an end adv.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > constituting main or major part

mosteOE

muchc1225

main1579

major1593

gross1692

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > constituting main or major part > the greater part of

mosteOE

mostwhat?a1400

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iii. xi. 81 On þæm [gefeohte] gefeol se mæsta dæl Mæcedonia duguðe.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1116 On þisum ylcan geare..baernde eall þa maeste dæl of þa tuna.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 169 Scheome is þe measte [a1250 Nero meste; a1250 Titus maste] deal..of ure penitence.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 7864 Heom sælliche i-lomp, þæt mesten dæl com a lond.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7582 (MED) Þe mestedel of heyemen, þat in engelond beþ, Beþ icome of þe normans.

a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 13 (MED) Þe meste part of þe lond bygon forte synge, ‘alas, ant weylawo!’

c1390 G. Chaucer Melibeus 2225 The mooste partie of that compaignye han scorned this olde wise man.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 14478 (MED) [The Jews] souȝten him to slone And moost ende for þat resoun Þat he vp reised lazaroun.

1423 Petition in Fenland Notes & Queries (1907–9) 7 307 (MED) The most parte of this londe is charged with the grete habondance of water that has falne.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 62 The moste parte of all the barownes..assayde all be rew.

1483 W. Caxton in tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 394/2 The moste parte of the peple of the cyte.

1532 in C. Innes Bk. Thanes Cawdor (1859) 155 The landis and barony of Schancar or the mast part thereof.

1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. Q.ii^v Power is most part impacient.

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) Pref. to Rdr. The most part were of hir Maiesties most honourable priuie Counsell, and the reast seruing hir in verie good place.

1579 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 429 The most noumber shall have the choice and election.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 12 The most parte thought him to be some Monster-little-man.

1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 20 Blood-sucking Inquisitors, of which the most part were mine owne Country-men.

1667 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue (rev. ed.) I. i. iii. 36 Most part of the night we spent in Boozing, pecking rumly.

1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 2 I went and took a view of most part of Hungary.

1732 Ld. Hervey Let. 7 Sept. in Earl of Ilchester Ld. Hervey & Friends (1950) (modernized text) 139 He told her [sc. the Queen] he had had a perpetual cascade upwards and downwards most part of the time he had been there.

1794 J. Woodforde Diary 20 Oct. (1929) IV. 146 Busy most part of the Afternoon in making some Mead Wine.

1847 H. C. Watson Cybele Britannica I. 65 Plants of marshy ground, the roots of which are in water or wet ground most part of the year, or constantly.

1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Maist feck, the greater part.

1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) 196 A moost paart goos abaout ha'f affter twelve.

1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders 39 The most part of us were out on the heuchs, looking to seaward.

1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. VI. xxii. 93 Yester, great battle lost, nigh Verulamion! Wherein are fallen the most part of Easthost!

1972 Advocate-News (Barbados) 14 Dec. 1 Vehicular traffic was forced to ‘inch along’ for the most part of yesterday.

1990 EMBO Jrnl. 9 4184 (caption) Long (3) viruses, including most part of the G protein ectodomain, was amplified as illustrated at the top.

b. for (also †be, in) the most part (also †deal, †party): usually, generally, in general, on the whole, in most cases; as regards the greater or greatest part. Also (rare) without the.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > for the most part

for the more party1372

for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387

for the more partc1405

for (the) most partc1405

much dealc1425

in substancea1450

for the mostc1531

in (also for) the generality1580

for the general1581

in (also for, on, upon) the maina1591

largely1594

principally1600

in chiefa1616

mainly1640

nine times (parts, etc.) out of (also in, of) ten1648

greatly1742

as a rule1828

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority

the more partOE

the best part ofOE

(the) more parta1350

(the) most parta1350

(the) most part alla1350

(the) most party1372

for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387

the better part ofa1393

the mo?a1400

most forcea1400

substancea1413

corsec1420

generalty?c1430

the greater partc1430

three quartersc1470

generalityc1485

the most feck1488

corpse1533

most1553

nine-tenths?1556

better half1566

generality?1570

pluralityc1570

body1574

the great body (of)1588

flush1592

three fourths1600

best1601

heap1609

gross1625

lump1709

bulk1711

majority1714

nineteen in twenty1730

balance1747

sweighta1800

heft1816

chief1841

the force1842

thick end1847

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 219 Now for þe moste deel he fleeþ mannys siȝt.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 196 (MED) Þei holden for the moste partye the..customs & gode maneres as men of the contree aboue-seyd.

a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 324 (MED) The fals man walkith fro towne to towne, For the moste parte with a thredbare gowne.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Chron. (1812) I. ccccxxvi. 746 Y^e lorde of Coucy went to Mortayn..and there refresshed hym and his company; but for the most partye he hymselfe was with the kyng at Turney.

a1540 (c1460) G. Hay tr. Bk. King Alexander 3289 Be the maist part all was tane and slane.

1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iii. sig. Gg.ii For moste part these kinde of iniurious persons..are menne wel stricken in yeeres.

c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 205 The auld fundationis,..and utheris wreittis,..of kirklandis war for the maist pairt distroyed.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (2 Cor. vii. 3) Such faithful friends are in this age all for the most part gone in pilgrimage.

1683 J. Turner Pallas Armata 171 The Persians, Turks, Russians, Polonians, and Hungarians, for most part wear Scimiters and Shables.

1715 J. Addison Freeholder No. 20. ⁋8 A House of Commons, which..must consist for the most part of Landed Men.

a1760 T. Gifford Hist. Descr. Zetland (1786) vii. 64 The Umboth tythes are for the most part a rental tythe.

1798 Trans. Soc. Promotion Agric., Arts, & Manuf. (U.S.) 3 116 The soil is clay, destitute of stones, and for the most part oak timbered.

1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. viii. 166 The shops were for the most part closed.

1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iii. 146 Whatsoever is not sung is properly no Poem, but a piece of Prose cramped into jingling lines,—to the great injury of the grammar, to the great grief of the reader, for most part!

1871 S. Smiles Character viii. 220 Men of the greatest genius have been for the most part cheerful, contented men.

1932 Oxf. Compan. Eng. Lit. 756/1 It [sc. Journal to Stella] is a series of intimate letters..for the most part written in baby language.

1960 New Scientist 10 Mar. 612 Mental hospitals..are places where, for the most part, an enlightened therapeutic programme and an open-door policy prevails.

1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 13 May e11 This claim is, ‘in the most part, simply untrue,’ said league president Joseph Benedict at a press conference this week.

1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 13 Sept. 14/3 I am a white, middle-class, female Angelino who agrees in most part with Cornel West.

2001 Independent 11 Jan. ii. 1/1 An ambulance crew is working, for the most part, alone.

a. Of a person: greatest in respect of power, authority, importance, or consequence. Formerly frequently (chiefly Scottish) in † most master n. a ruler, commander; (also) the winner in a contest, etc. (obsolete). Now Scottish and rare. Sc. National Dict. (1965) records this sense as still in use in south-western Scotland in 1962.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important

mosteOE

foremostc1000

headOE

headlyOE

nexta1200

umest1513

primary1565

headest1577

ruling1590

forward1591

capital1597

of the first magnitude1643

palmary1646

top1647

prepondering1651

headmost1661

home1662

life-and-death1804

palmarian1815

bada1825

key1832

première1844

society > authority > [adjective] > supreme (of authority) > having supreme authority

mosteOE

sovereign1340

overest1481

supreme1496

primea1591

sovran1649

rankest1907

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun]

waldendeOE

prince?c1225

ordainerc1300

tyranta1340

prefecta1382

rulera1382

wieldera1382

corner of the people1382

lordshipperc1384

governora1393

moderatora1398

wieldinga1400

leader of lawsc1400

regent1415

governailc1440

dominatorc1450

reignera1464

regnanta1500

gubernator1522

despot1562

shepherd1577

swayer1598

Sophy1599

most mastera1616

Govr.1620

Gov.1630

archon1735

society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > [noun]

heretogac900

marshal1258

chevetaine1297

chieftainc1330

arrayerc1370

governora1382

master of (the) chivalrya1382

leadera1387

war-headlinga1400

emperorc1400

captain1450

conductor1483

grand captain1531

commendador1580

lodesman1581

conducta1592

commander1598

induperator1599

war-captain1610

war-chief1610

war-leader1610

most mastera1616

commandant1687

commandant-general1827

baron1919

eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) i. xvi. 88 Se mæsta cempa & se hehsta þæs heofonlican weorodes Sanctus Paulus se apostol.

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xviii. 1 Dicentes quis putas maior est in regno caelorum : hia cueðende huelc wenes ðu maast is in ric heofna.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 813 (MED) Let us onswerien þe meast kempe..& kenest of ow alle.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2735 (MED) Þe segges were a-slepe..al but þe mest maister.

a1400 Prose Life Christ (Pepys) (1922) 87 (MED) And þo bigonnen hij forto stryuen amonges hem, which schulde be moist maister and heiȝest.

1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) xxi. i. sig. dd.iij^v He that was the moost kyng and knyght of the world.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 1098 The worthy Scottis maist maister.

a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 210 Kynge Clarion, that was the moste man of the hoste of alle the Geauntes.

1570 in A. I. Cameron Warrender Papers (1931) I. 81 The indifferentis will yeld to the maist maisters.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iii. 149 Shee'le..dandle thee like a Baby: Though in this place most Master weare no Breeches.

b. Of a thing: chief, main, principal. most hand: almost entirely, chiefly; (also as n.) the most part. Now Scottish and English regional (Yorkshire). Conc. Sc. Dict. (1985) records this sense as still in use. The adverbial phrase most hand is recorded by Sc. National Dict. (1965) as still in use in north-eastern Scotland and Shetland in 1962.

ΚΠ

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2867 Þatt wass..Þe maste þing. forr whatt ȝho wass. Þatt time cumenn þære.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10734 Þiss iss þe þridde kinne mahht. Þatt soþ meocnesse shæweþþ..& itt iss mast & heȝhesst off hemm alle.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxii. 38 This is the firste and the most [L. maximum] maundement.

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. 192 (MED) I was most cause of her confusioun.

?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 65 (MED) The most thinge that greuid her was her good and gay clothing.

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) i. iii. 14 Ryght dere lord and kynge, the grettest and most thinge that I desire is that thou haue..a gloryous and vertuous lyf.

a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 10799 (MED) Þere his moste dwelling shal be Wel may men calle it her cuntre.

a1500 How Good Man taught his Son (Harl.) 186 in Erlanger Beiträge zur Englischen Philol. (1889) 2 35 The moost þyng þat certeyn ys.

c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) i. iii. 15 Turffe and seacole is theire most fewell.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 51 Dunnotyre..maist mansione of the Erles of Marchel.

a1784 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherd 122 in Sc. National Dict. at Maist But can ye now of her nae cuttance gie Or where about her maist resort may be?

1835 D. Webster Orig. Sc. Rhymes 4 The maist thing that troubled the bodies, I think was their hungry wames.

1868 G. MacDonald Robert Falconer I. xii I hae been thinkin' o' a plan for maist han' toomin' hell.

1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Maist-hand, for the most partly, chiefly.

1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby For t' maist hand.

1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 80/1 He'll a getten t'maisthand on't lest week.

†c. Modifying a noun characterizing a person as a particular type: entitled to, deserving, or embodying the characterization in the highest degree; worst or best; biggest. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > that is such in a high degree > entitled to designation in high degree > in highest degree

mostc1300

uttermostc1572

utterest1593

c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 1917 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 161 (MED) Þe foure þat mest schrewes weren bi-þouȝten hem of guyle.

c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) 1611 (MED) Þe meste wreche of alle Wiþ a strok me doþ adoun falle.

c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 505 Yet was he to me the mooste shrewe.

a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. 225 (MED) O thou Fortune, most fool off foolis all.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 207 b/2 Fle hens thou moste wretche.

a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iv. iv. sig. G.j The moste loute and dastarde that euer on grounde trode.

1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 287^v Becaus thow art the maist fule now on lyfe.

1605 G. Chapman Al Fooles in Wks. (1873) I. 149 These politicians..are our most fooles.

1625 T. Middleton Game at Chæss iii. ii. (end) She's caught, and, which is strange, by her most wronger.

1688 W. Scott True Hist. 77 A Poet's the most fool beneath the skyes.

1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 439 He had been a most Mad-man had he stood against them.

1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 27 The maist mester-fiend o' a storm o' wind..blew ower a' the brakan' isles o' Orkney.

†d. With in, of. Of a person: that is the greatest with respect to, or is best endowed with a specified quality, virtue, etc. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > having some attribute in a great degree > in greatest degree

mosta1325

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 900 He [sc. Melchisedech] was boðen king and prest, Of elde most, of wit hegest.

c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) 461 Þe fairest man & mest of main..It is sir Amis.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 205 How he þat o myght es mast Send in till erth his haly gast.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 316 (MED) Þis Cesare was moost in generalte and larges.

a1500 (?c1400) Sir Gowther (Adv.) (1886) 755 (end) Gyff us myȝt with hym to won, þat lord, þat is most of meyn! Amen.

1533 in F. J. Furnivall Ballads from MSS (1868) I. 380 Wheron to rest, And build hir nest, God graunte hir, moste of might!

1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) i. 7 Welcum, oure plesand princes maist of pryce!

1675 in M. Wood Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1950) X. 241 Two or thrie of the worthiest maisters and maist of knowledge of the said crafts.

†e. most and least (also least and most): of highest and lowest station, greatest and humblest; (in extended use) everyone, all those concerned. poetic in later use. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. 4712 (MED) To God þey highte to make a feste Wyþ alle þe comme[n]s, lest & meste.

a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xxxviii. 170 (MED) There was..gret feste amonges tho barowns bothe lest and Meste.

c1480 (a1400) St. Martha 198 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 290 Al hyre covent, leste & maste.

a1500 ( J. Lydgate Q. Margaret's Entry into London 100 in Mod. Lang. Rev. (1912) 7 229 The Kynge will make hys ffeste Alle thyng is redy plentie and suffisaunce Praied for to come gestes moost and leste.

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. 18 Duke Tharcon and the Tuscanys maste and lest Not fer from thens..Thar palȝeonys all had plantyt.

1817 ‘W. Whistlecraft’ & ‘R. Whistlecraft’ Prospectus National Work King Arthur i. ii. 8 Thither came the Vassals, most and least, From every corner of this British Isle.

1875 H. Ellison Stones from Quarry 60 And yet He spreads for all, both most and least; None away empty sent!

II. As a superlative corresponding to many.

a. Modifying a plural count noun: the greatest number of; the majority of. Formerly occasionally with the or possessive adjective.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [adjective] > most numerous

mosteOE

umberst1599

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Him mon eac mid oþrum floccum sohte mæstra daga ælce, [oþþe on dæg] oþþe on niht.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 169 (MED) Mest manne him gremede mid scorne.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xix. 250 And who þat moste maistries can, be myldest of berynge.

a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 5 Whereof the most peple were sory.

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 11^v Vertue is harbored in the heart of him that most men esteeme misshapen.

1628 Bp. J. Hall Olde Relig. Ep. Ded. I haue passed my most, and best houres in quiet Meditation.

1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. xxiii. 7) 180 Abrahams behaviour to these Hittites may shame the most Christians.

1701 T. Tuttell Descr. Math. Instruments in J. Moxon Math. made Easie (ed. 3) 1 Most Questions in Arithmetick.

1737 D. Waterland Rev. Doctr. Eucharist 7 He will..fall short in most Things, for want of Compass, and larger Views.

1790 J. Bentham Wks. (1843) X. 233 Accustomed to view things in the great, this virtue, if it be one, costs me no less, perhaps, than most people.

1833 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 2 360 Muriate of copper is described in most books of chemistry as a liquid of a bright green colour.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lx. 427 Party loyalty [is] strong enough, with most people.

a1940 F. S. Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1941) i. 11 At that age, when one has the young illusion that most adventures are good, I needed only a bath and a change to go on for hours.

1976 G. Gordon 100 Scenes from Married Life 42 Life's only interesting because we're not most people, we're us.

b. most times: usually, in the majority of cases. Now colloquial and regional.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > in habitual or customary use [phrase] > usually or ordinarily

in general1526

most times1556

of (also for, in) ordinary1556

in a general way1660

in common1819

as a rule1828

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxxxviii. 102 Manie small making a greate, There pollisie (keping their pour in store:) Hath most times erst, brought vs our selues to beate.

1673 A. Behn Dutch Lover v. i. 79 As it most times happens, We marry where our Parents like, not we.

1895 ‘C. Hare’ Down Village Street 203 They'm middlin geed children most times.

1989 J. Taylor Circus of Ambition v. 158 Most times Simpson didn't really mean what he was saying.

†c. With a singular noun: numerically strongest. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1638 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 487 It was..agreed upon, by comon consent and most voice in oppen court.

III. As a superlative corresponding to much.

a. Of something abstract: existing in the greatest quantity, amount, or degree; manifested in a person or action to the highest degree, or in the most outstanding or exemplary form.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > greatest in quantity, amount, or degree > greatest quantity or amount of

mostc1275

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14575 Faste he heold Chirchestre mid strengðe þan mæste.

?a1300 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Digby) xiii, in Anglia (1881) 4 192 (MED) Þere þe bale is mest, Þere is þe bote nest.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 12481 In þe moste pres Yder sprong.

c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 406 Bot moste harm in þis mater stondes in þis; þat þei perverte þo feythe of þo gospel.

a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 23 (MED) Of all angels in brightnes, God gaf lucifer most lightnes.

c1503 tr. Charter of London in R. Arnold Chron. f. v/2 Our trewe men doo vs to vnderstonde that moost prayeng and leste profyt myght falle to the same cite and to me.

1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. i. 125/1 Thy crucified Christe, is but an yesterdayes God, the gods of y^e Gentiles are of most antiquitie.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. ix. 83 The square is of all other accompted the figure of most solliditie and stedfastnesse.

1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah 427 Where he powreth foorth most benefits, he expecteth most gratefulnesse.

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 73 It is a bird of the flippantst wing, which as it moueth with most nimblenesse, so it doth the greatest mischiefe.

1667 K. Philips Poems 191 Of thy garments fair and white, The neatness gives us most delight.

1720 J. Ozell et al. tr. R. A. de Vertot Hist. Revol. Rom. Republic I. iv. 20 At those tumultuous Assemblies..such had most Authority as could make most Noise.

1735 J. Swift Gulliver Introd. Let., in Wks. III. iii Have not I the most Reason to complain?

1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. vi. 44 The strength corresponds with most exactness to the general state of the body with regard to strength.

1795 T. Jefferson Let. 29 Apr. in Writings (1984) cxii I do presume that this is the business which would yield the most happiness & contentment to one of your philosophic turn.

1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters IV. 267 The work will..have most power which was begun with most patience.

1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities iii. x. 216 By the elder, I mean him who exercised the most authority.

a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xvii. 407 ‘That's the best graft,’ explained he. ‘It means the most money, and the most influence.’

1960 Woman 23 Apr. 73/4 What gave him most joy was a yellow polo jersey that Frances knitted for him.

1980 S. J. Gould Panda's Thumb (1982) xiv. 152 Craniometry, or measurement of the skull, commanded the most attention and respect.

1996 A. H. Gauthier in D. Coleman Europe's Population in 1990s ix. 300 It was in France, with its long tradition of pro-natalism, that this question was given most prominence.

b. Existing in the greatest quantity or amount; of the greatest quantity or amount.

ΚΠ

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 141 (MED) In þe contrey of kanterbury mest [v.r. most] plente of fiss is, & mest chas a boute salesbury..At londone ssipes mest & win at winchestre.

c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 15 (MED) Alexander..sent þe maste substance of his Oste to þe Cite of Askalon.

?1575 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (new ed.) 388 Vnto him that offred most siluer..the priesthood was giuen: as when a garment is sold by the drumme.

1594 J. Ogle Lament. Troy sig. H2 But who hath most gold him doe they reuerence.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. v. 218 They cal that poore which yields least silver,..and that riche which yields most silver.

1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. xi. 54 The Ships that drawes most water are commonly the most wholsome.

a1686 J. Rawlet Poet. Misc. 64 The Moon from view retir'd, receives most light From Heaven, and Heaven-ward shines most bright.

1700 S. Parker 6 Philos. Ess. 53 Physicians, of all people, gather most Money next to the Collectors of the Taxes.

1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 84 Such waters as contain most air..are found the lightest and purest.

1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. iii. 548 The expedient which will raise most money, is almost always preferred.

1835 C. M. Sedgwick Tales & Sketches 18 He was the wealthiest man in Carrington, owned most land, and had most ready money.

1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xxxi. 298 I like to talk with the strongest man in England, or the man who can drink the most beer in England.

1898 ‘M. Field’ World at Auction ii. p. xxviii Yielding them up to him who has most gold.

1915 J. Hay Reminisc. Earliest Canterbury 83 The quarter from which we got the most rain was the south-west.

1967 R. H. MacArthur & E. O. Wilson Theory of Island Biogeogr. vii. 149 Genotypes which harvest the most food (even if wastefully) will rear the largest families and be most fit.

1991 T. Mitchell Blood Sport Pref. p. ix Vying with each other to see who could make the most racket and quaff the most wine from pigskin botas.

B. pron. and n.

I. As a superlative corresponding to much.

a. The greatest amount or quantity; the highest quality (of something implied); the best to be expected or achieved. In later use, frequently the most.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > the greatest amount or quantity

mostOE

whole hog1838

mostest1887

whole-hogger1914

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1011 Þonne hi mæst to yfele gedon hæfdon.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5882 Þatt goddspellwrihhte. Þatt mast wrat..Off cristess goddcunndnesse.

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 112 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 (MED) Þe ðe lest wat biseið ofte mest.

c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 671 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 318 (MED) Man hath of eorþe al is bodi, and..Ho-so hath of þe eorþe mest, he is slouȝ ase þe Asse.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 1194 (MED) For whan he weneth most beyete, Thanne is he schape most to lese.

1419 in C. Innes Bk. Thanes Cawdor (1859) 6 To sel thaim to hym or to ony uthir that wil gif mast for thaim.

c1480 (a1400) St. Pelagia 49 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 205 Þat quha-sa wald mast hir gefe.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 140 Quha maist hes than sall maist repent.

1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 162 Four hundred Crowns had been the most that my old Predecessor had given yearly.

1692 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 2) ii. 91 The most that can be inferred from hence is, a transmutation of Species.

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. iii. §43. 147 The most, that any close Inspection can scry, out of it, is, that a Party was found that would oppose the Exclusion Bill.

1788 J. Madison in Federalist Papers xxxvii. 3 The most that the convention could do in such a situation, was to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of other countries, as well as of our own.

a1854 E. Grant Mem. Highland Lady (1988) I. vii. 135 Mr Thompson, from whom we learned the most, did not take matters so easily.

1877 H. James American xxii. 389 The most she has done for me has been not to turn me out of the house.

1907 Catholic Encycl. I. 707/1 He [sc. John Argyropulos]was one of those who contributed most to the revival of Greek learning in Italy.

1952 Ann. Reg. 1951 138 The most that could be claimed was that the Communists had been ‘contained’.

1972 Accountant 5 Oct. 422/1 The company with a poor loss record has most to gain from self-insurance.

1991 Coarse Fishing Feb. 10/3 If things carried on as they were the most I could hope for was 5lb, not nearly enough to win.

†b. With noun in the genitive. Obsolete.Only in Old English and early Middle English.

ΚΠ

eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxiv. 54 [Sume t]iliað mid micelre [geo]rnfulnesse wifa, forðæm þæt he þurh ðæt mæge mæst bearna be[git]an.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 14 & tu schalt, wummone meast, wunne & weole wealden.

†c. Scottish. all one's most: one's utmost. Obsolete.In quot. 1487 as an adverbial phrase.

ΚΠ

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 818 Quhen all thair mast assalȝeit thai, And the schot thikkest [wes] with-all [etc.].

a1586 W. Dunbar in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1919) I. 289 He þat makis all his maist seruice He may it tyne.

d. to make the most of: to employ to the best advantage; to derive what limited advantage one can from; to represent or exhibit in the best light or in the light most advantageous to one's ends. Formerly also †to make most of: to treat with the greatest consideration (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > be advantageous or beneficial to [verb (transitive)] > take advantage of > turn to account > turn to best advantage

to make the most of1526

optimize1817

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > treat kindly [verb (transitive)] > treat considerately

to make the most of1526

the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > make ostentatious display of [verb (transitive)]

flourishc1380

show1509

ostent1531

ostentatec1540

to ruffle it1551

to brave out1581

vaunt1590

boasta1592

venditate1600

to make the most ofa1627

display1628

to make (a) parade of1656

pride1667

sport1684

to show off1750

flash1785

afficher1814

affiche1817

parade1818

flaunt1822

air1867

showboat1937

ponce1953

rock1987

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Dv^v He maketh moste of vs and cherissheth vs.

1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Epistle (1880) 22 Thackwell is..permitted to make the most he could of his presse and letters.

a1627 J. Hayward Life & Raigne Edward Sixt (1630) 73 The most[was] made of that which was true, and many falsities added.

1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. ii. xxiii. 36 I alwaies made the most of the youngest.

1694 J. Collier Misc. v. 69 When you have made the most of it, I foresee this Latitudinarian Love will be expensive.

1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. iv. 6 How to make the most of her Beauty.

1748 G. G. Beekman Let. 3 Sept. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 60 It [sc. brown sugar] be so Exceedingly Dirty more so then Any french Sugars I ever say [sic]. Shall make the most of it.

1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 108 Whereas, when I say, ‘There were a few men with him’; I evidently intend to make the most of them.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. v. 108 Lawyers..to draw his contracts, his pre-contracts, and his post-contracts, and to find the way to make the most of grants of church-lands, [etc.].

1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xxiii. 5 Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend.

1891 Temple Bar June 167 He..made the most of his opportunity.

1959 B. Kops Hamlet of Stepney Green 170 Make the most of your life—because life is a holiday from the dark.

1973 L. Cooper Tea on Sunday vi. 60 She was good looking in her way, but..she didn't know how to make the most of herself.

1987 Which? Oct. 499/2 Unless you're willing to buy better speakers, you won't be making the most of CD.

e. The greatest part of, the majority of (followed by a singular noun or pronoun). †Occasionally with the. Cf. sense A. 4b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority

the more partOE

the best part ofOE

(the) more parta1350

(the) most parta1350

(the) most part alla1350

(the) most party1372

for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387

the better part ofa1393

the mo?a1400

most forcea1400

substancea1413

corsec1420

generalty?c1430

the greater partc1430

three quartersc1470

generalityc1485

the most feck1488

corpse1533

most1553

nine-tenths?1556

better half1566

generality?1570

pluralityc1570

body1574

the great body (of)1588

flush1592

three fourths1600

best1601

heap1609

gross1625

lump1709

bulk1711

majority1714

nineteen in twenty1730

balance1747

sweighta1800

heft1816

chief1841

the force1842

thick end1847

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique sig. ee3 He cometh naughtily by moste of that, whiche he hath.

1659 J. Milton Consider. touching Hirelings 129 [They] have had the most of thir breeding both at schoole and universitie by schollarships.

1659 T. Fuller Appeal Iniured Innocence ii. 18 Those Sholes of People..came into Juitland, and thence Inunded the most of Europe.

1697 London Gaz. No. 3250/4 Lost.., a large Silver Japan headed Cane, the ground of it Shagreen, and the Japan Work most of it gilt.

1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 273 Then it was that many shifted away that had stayed most of the time before.

1753 J. Bartlet Gentleman's Farriery xxxvi. 282 If the horse stands too low with his hind legs, most of his weight will rest upon them.

1805 Edinb. Rev. 6 244 Most of our coal has been discovered..by exploring their outcrops.

1885 Fortn. in Waggonette 44 A thick Inverness cape covers the most of his person.

1916 A. Huxley Let. 7 Aug. (1969) 109 I have been sleeping out on the roof..spending most of the night in conversation or in singing folk-songs and rag-time to the stars.

1931 H. Belloc Hist. Eng. IV. i. 127 Much of the most of English wealth in 1536 came from tillage.

1982 N. Sedaka Laughter in Rain (1983) i. i. 20 There was never much money, and Mom had to work throughout most of her childhood.

†f. The truest case or example of a type of person or thing. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1779 Let. Feb. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1994) III. 244 I often say Dr. Burney is the most of a male Coquet of any man I know.

1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. vii. vii. 112 I should have chosen the youngest, and the most of a lady's man.

2. In phrases used adverbially.

†a. with (also mid) the most: in the utmost degree; in the greatest quantity; to the full. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

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

never solOE

with (also mid) the mostc1275

for the masteryc1325

to the bestc1390

to the uttermostc1400

at the hardest1429

to the utmostc1450

to the skies (also sky)1559

at float1594

all to nothing1606

to the height1609

to the proofa1625

to the last degree1639

to the welkin?1746

(the) worst kind1839

for all it's worth1864

as —— as they make them?a1880

in the highest1897

to the nth (degree, power)1897

up to eleven1987

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2547 He wes swike mid þan meste.

c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 274 (MED) Sorwe he makeþ wiþ þe mest Of Felice þat feir may.

c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 5457 (MED) Porus þe kyng had wille wiþ þe mest To wite of Alisaunders estre.

a1500 Sir Degrevant (Cambr.) (1949) 1419 (MED) Þer ware metus with þe maste.

a1598 W. Cecil Certaine Preceptes (1617) iii. 11 Feede them [sc. servants] well, and paye them with the most.

1629 J. Gaule Panegyrick 10 in Practique Theories Christs Predict. Our gratefull acknowledgement of his Goodnesse, when it is with the most; is but a slender requitall for his Benefits.

b. at (the) most: as the greatest amount, as the best possible; on the highest or most generous estimate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > a great quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at (very) most

at (the) mostc1300

at the largea1398

at uttermost1530

at the utmost (at utmost)1619

at the outside1852

c1300 St. Brendan (Harl.) (1844) 31 (MED) Ther thu schalt fourti dayes bileve atte meste.

a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 947 He spak inough, for o day at the meeste.

1453 in J. P. Collier Trevelyan Papers (1857) 25 (MED) If the chaplen dy, elec another honest man..within foure monethis at the most.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxx. C A thousand of you shal fle for one, or at the most for fyue.

1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 47 in Jewell House That salt, whereof the Peter men doo gather a bushell or two at the most, from thirty tunnes of earth.

1606 in J. Stuart Sel. Rec. Kirk Aberdeen (1846) 54 Fyve or sex at the maist of the speciall freyndis of the defunct.

1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 196 One degree of Longitude under the thirty seventh degree of Latitude,..consists but of fifty minutes at the most.

1756 F. Brooke Old Maid No. 30. 177 After these entered a tall child, at most but in her thirteenth year.

1794 J. Anderson Peat Moss 39 Each of which is of a size just as much as one or at most two men have cut out in a day.

a1854 E. Grant Mem. Highland Lady (1988) II. xix. 48 Two, or at the most three, instruments sufficed for band.

1885 Law Times 79 38/1 The duty of the magistrate should be at most ancillary to that of the doctor.

1909 G. M. R. Levinsen Cheilostomatous Bryozoa 46 Heterozoœcia.., which have no intestinal canal, and at most have a trace of a polypide in a small cell-body.

1953 A. C. Clarke Prelude to Space (rev. ed.) xxii. 115 If..there's a last-minute hold-up, launching will be delayed.., at the most, thirty-six hours.

1987 C. Tomalin Katherine Mansfield xiii. 179 She had at most four years to live if she did not follow this advice.

†c. for the most: for the most part. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > for the most part

for the more party1372

for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387

for the more partc1405

for (the) most partc1405

much dealc1425

in substancea1450

for the mostc1531

in (also for) the generality1580

for the general1581

in (also for, on, upon) the maina1591

largely1594

principally1600

in chiefa1616

mainly1640

nine times (parts, etc.) out of (also in, of) ten1648

greatly1742

as a rule1828

c1531 H. Latimer in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) I. App. xliii. 119 Those other, for the most, teach nothing, but that whych ys manifest in the Scripture.

1584 A. Barlowe in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) iii. 730 They..are of colour yellowish, and their haire blacke for the most.

?1594 D. Monro Descr. W. Isles (1961) 9 Within the sanctuarie also lyis for the maist the Lords of the Iles.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) v. i. 437 They say best men are moulded out of faults, And for the most, become much more the better For being a little bad.

d. the most: to the greatest degree or extent, most of all. Cf. sense C. 1.

ΚΠ

1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine iii. i. 160 He loves not most that doth lament the most.

1668 S. Pepys Diary 1 Mar. (1976) IX. 99 A Starling which..doth whistle and talk the most and best that ever I heard anything in my life.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. sig. 35b That is..best which being rubb'd with the Hand creeks the most.

1782 W. Cowper Table Talk in Poems 88 The lie that flatters I abhor the most.

1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 16 The cotton wood, elm, mulberry, and nettle trees suffered the most.

1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 525 I did the worst to him I loved the most.

1919 C. H. Darling Jargon Bk. 25 Pet peeve, the thing that provokes you the most.

1964 A. Staples Paddo 105 Our members are the best, our beach has the best surf, our blokes stick together the most.

1996 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Nov. a28/1 China is the nation that baffles him the most.

II. = greatest n.

3. Someone or something that is greatest in some respect.

†a. The eldest. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [adjective] > older than an age > eldest

eldestc1000

mostc1275

heldesta1400

oldest1478

greatest1535

patriarchal1806

aîné1831

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 11567 Mauric, þe mæste of his childeren.

†b. The greatest, highest-ranking, or most prominent person. Also used occasionally of an animal, etc. Frequently in most and least: all without exception. poetic. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > people collectively > [noun] > all people

all the worldOE

all ledea1275

more and minc1275

most and leasta1300

much and litec1330

mo and lessc1426

the whole world1530

cut and long tail1576

universal1596

general1604

universality1606

university1677

all outdoors1833

John Q.1937

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of people

mosta1300

principala1382

principal?a1425

capitalc1475

supreme1496

chief1535

leading1631

staple1642

big league1917

high-level1947

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [adjective] > of highest social rank

highestOE

mosta1300

upperestc1374

uppermost1876

rankest1907

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 335 Cethegrande is a fis, Ðe moste ðat in water is.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 198 And for hise sinne oc he to munen, Ðat moste and leiste him ben binumen.

c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 131 Chese yow a wyf..Born of the gentileste and of the meeste Of al this lond.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 1659 (MED) Fra þe mast dun to þe lest, Sal neþer liue ne fouul ne best.

a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xii. 382 (MED) He Comandede bothe lest & Mest.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 59 b/1 Moyses..gadred all the most of byrthe.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Heb. viii. 11 They shall a knowe me, from the lest to the moste off them.

?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 1 I am..acquainted with the most, and well knoen too the best, and euery officer glad of my company.

1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne viii. lxxii. 156 Enuenoming the harts of most and least.

1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd i. 8 So stand forth free and unfree; stand forth both most and least.

1879 R. Browning Pheidippides in Dramatic Idyls 39 Then praise Pan who fought in the ranks with your most and least.

1908 J. Payne Quia Amore Langueo in Carol & Cadence 224 Love for Nature's most and least Thrones it in my heart of heart.

c. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). the most (in predicative use): the best or finest example, ‘the best’; something that is extremely good. Cf. greatest n., mostest adj. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [adjective]

highestOE

bestOE

firstlOE

greatest?c1225

of the besta1350

premiera1500

paramount1530

supremec1550

supreme1571

primer1589

top1647

nulli secundus1742

bestest1751

first class1819

beatemest1831

par excellence1839

première1844

first rate1853

beatenest1860

blue ribbon1860

optimum1885

optimal1890

class A1906

all-star1908

grade A1911

five-star1931

mostest1936

tip-topmost1937

the end1950

the most1953

1953 Time 17 Aug. 3/1 It's the most!

1954 New Yorker 18 Sept. 30/1 I'm feeling the most today.

1963 J. O. Killens And then we heard Thunder 15 Sam's Army is just about the most.

1969 H. Waugh Young Prey (1970) 6 ‘So—you like the ride ?’.. ‘No kidding, it was the most!’

1976 L. Rosten 3:10 to Anywhere 27 You're the most, doll-face.

1984 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring–Summer 47 This vinyl tote's ‘the most’ for holding all your necessities and then some.

III. As a superlative corresponding to many.

4. Usually with plural agreement. The greatest number.

a. The greatest number of people or things; the majority. †Occasionally with the.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > greater number, majority

moeOE

unfewc1175

most?a1400

most forcea1400

substancea1413

overmatch1542

flush1592

the (great, vast) mass of1604

the millions1604

stream1614

numbers1638

the multiplicity of1639

majority1650

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 2834 Mast [a1450 Lamb. most] salle haf þat mast may do.

1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum 38 The most here doe vnderstand this signe.

1670 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 21 Upon the Queene's Birthday most wore embraudered bodys.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1656 (1955) III. 178 We went to Dedham... This is (as most are in Essex) a Clothing Towne, and lies in the unwholsome hundreds.

1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 205 Most believ'd it rather a dislike of some Church-men, and of some introducements of Theirs.

1791 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 22/2 A gentleman..who felt the infirmities of age at an earlier period than most do.

1833 H. Martineau Charmed Sea i Her indifference was towards..most who crossed her daily path.

1852 M. Arnold Youth of Nature 71 Sunk..Too deep for the most to discern.

1959 G. Savage Antique Collector's Handbk. 70 The earliest maiolica was a series of wares painted in green and manganese purple at Orvieto and elsewhere, and most are loosely called ‘Orvieto ware’.

1987 Z. Tomin Coast of Bohemia v. 171 It's the shock—you've had it worse than most, I should imagine.

1995 D. Berlinski Tour of Calculus xxii. 262 Many mathematicians, it is true, are Platonists, and most think of themselves as visionary.

b. The most numerous part of an aggregate specified or implied, the majority. Frequently with of.Frequently with the until the 20th cent., but now usually without article.

ΚΠ

c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 2 (MED) I schal gyf to hym the moste of my goodes.

1488 in T. Thomson Coll. Inventories Royal Wardrobe (1815) 4 Fund in the maist of the said cofferis lous & put in na thing bot liand within the said coffyr[is] 570 rois nobilis.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Matt. xi. 20 The cities, in the which most of his miracles were done.

1565 A. Golding tr. Caesar Martiall Exploytes in Gallia iv. f. 102^v Most of our shyps were thus broosed and weatherbeaten.

1588 J. Udall State Church of Eng. sig. C3 The most of them woulde neuer deale in that lawe at home.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 583 For she seemes a Mistresse To most that teach.

1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 173 Moste of the Fleete came lagging on by ones and two's.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 32 Most of these Divans have large Windows.

1702 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 23 1167 Most of them are of an Aromatic Smell and Taste, but some are fœtid, virose, and fervid in their Taste.

1767 Jrnl. Voy. H.M.S. Dolphin 10 The most of the priests are negroes.

1796 E. Burke Let. to Noble Lord in Wks. (1815) VIII. 63 I looked over a number of fine portraits, most of them of persons now dead.

1852 G. W. Curtis Wanderer in Syria 161 We found a spot less dreary than the most.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 7 I found a number of persons, most of whom I knew.

1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights I. 45 The most of my patrons are boys.

1910 ‘W. Lawton’ Boy Aviators in Nicaragua 19 The taxi-cabby, like most of his kind, was not averse to making a tip.

1954 ‘D. Divine’ Golden Fool v. 47 It was a better brandy than the Cape Smoke most of them drank.

1993 Canad. Geographic May 76/1 Inuit hunters kill most of the bears, but about 15 percent are shot by sport hunters.

C. adv.

I. In the greatest degree, etc.

1. As a superlative of comparison: in the greatest degree; to the greatest extent.

a. Modifying a verb, a prepositional phrase, or the whole predicate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in the greatest degree or most

mostOE

heldesta1400

greatestc1400

mostly1580

largemosta1672

mostest1888

OE tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. ii. 22 Þara nytena meolc þe hy mæst bi libbað.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1118 Mæst hine dryfdon his agene mæn þe him gelome fram bugon, & swicon.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2595 & ȝho þatt cwemmde himm allre mæst. Off all mann kinn onn eorþe.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 99 (MED) It warð on eches muð wat mete se he mest luuede.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2336 (MED) Bot most of alle his herte is set..upon these grete Offices.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 5720 Whanne he most hath, most he failith.

a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 24 For þat a man loueth most yn þys world, þat ys callet his god and his mawmet.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cvii^v He..thought it most for his honor & profite.

a1555 D. Lindsay Tragedie in Dialog Experience & Courteour (1559) sig. Sv My hope was moste, in to the kyng of france.

1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine iii. i. 160 He loves not most that doth lament the most.

c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 104 The Bishopp of Rochester..had occupied preachinge most at Pawles Crosse of any bishopp.

1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia 3 The soyle is most plentifull, sweete,..and fruitfull of all other.

1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 30 But Save me most from my Petitioners. Unsatiate as the barren Womb or Grave.

1723 Duke of Wharton True Briton No. 26. ¶14 Their most obliged Creatures have shunn'd them most.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. ii. 6 Nature and fortune..seem to have contended which should bless and enrich him most .

a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 505 How guessed ye, Sir, what maist I wanted?

1810 S. Green Romance Readers I. xxi. 95 What now shocked me most of all was, that the character of my Ellen began to suffer.

1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 205 For most, I know, thou lov'st retired ground.

1882 T. Hardy Two on Tower I. x. 179 Of all phenomena that he had longed to witness during his short astronomical career, those appertaining to comets had excited him most.

1934 F. S. Fitzgerald Tender is Night i. xix. 106 Often a man can play the helpless child in front of a woman, but he can almost never bring it off when he feels most like a helpless child.

1985 D. Johnson Fiskadoro iii. 69 Mr. Cheung..loved her face most of all.

2000 Econ. & Philos. 16 95 They argue that among the standard dimensions, they should be evaluated by ones that happen to flatter them most.

b. Modifying an adjective or adverb to form the superlative.With most adjectives and adverbs of more than one syllable, and with all those of more than two syllables, this is the normal mode of forming the superlative. A few monosyllables (e.g. real, right, wrong, just) normally form their superlatives in this way instead of taking the suffix -est. [Traces of periphrastic comparison are found in Old English in the use of betst or swiþost (but not mæst ) with participles and occasionally with adjectives. Periphrastic comparison of adjectives and adverbs with most (and for the comparative more : see more adj. 1c) is found from early Middle English, although only sporadically before the 14th cent. Unlike modern usage, in Middle English periphrastic comparison is more common with monosyllabic or disyllabic adjectives than with adjectives of three or more syllables, although it is less common than comparison with -est (or -er ) for adjectives of any length in Middle English; the development of the modern distribution is illustrated by the frequency with which formation of the comparison of adjectives with three or more syllables with -est rather than with most is criticized in 18th-cent. and later normative grammars. It is uncertain to what extent the emergence of periphrastic comparison in English was influenced by analogy with French comparison with plus and le plus or Latin comparison with magis and maxime ; confusion between and subsequent identity of form of most and superlatives in -most suffix (see note at that entry) may also have aided the process. See also -er suffix³, -est suffix.]

ΚΠ

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 34 For þah he beo richest..þe alre measte poure þe him to were cheoseð is him wel icweme.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 23 (MED) Þet byeþ þe heȝe men and þet byeþ mest worþ.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 307 The moste principal of alle.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 37 This weye is most schort.

a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 167 The mast north of thir four fludis is Euphrates,..and Nylus is the mast south.

1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie i. vii To conceiue and vnderstand, what is most semelie in everie circumsance, and to haue it fined, to the most ciuill vse.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 283 Hee had some warres..against the Christians, more vnnaturall against his brother, but most most vnnaturall and monstrous against his sonne Selym.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. i. 232 Ebbing men, indeed (Most often) do so neere the bottome run By their owne feare, or sloth.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 146 The most sweete walke that ever I beheld.

1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. v. § i. 307 The Life of God carries in it the most perfect Spirituositie, as he is the most simple pure Spirit.

1725 T. Thomas in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS Comm.) VI. 122 One of the Kirks most Commodious for its largeness.

1768 A. Smith Theory Moral Sentiments iii. ii Vanity..is the foundation of the most ridiculous and contemptible vices.

1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) II. 112 The most amazing monument of the Roman power in England, is the praetenture, or wall of Severus.

1818 S. T. Coleridge Lett. (1895) II. 698 These lectures will be found by far the most interesting..of any that I have yet delivered.

1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist III. xxxix. 56 And the most noisome of the stews and dens of London.

1892 Bookman Oct. 27/2 The most dogged of fighters, the most dangerous of enemies.

1939 G. Greene Confidential Agent i. iv. 143 Her death was only the first, and perhaps the most horrible because she was alone: the others would die in company in underground shelters.

1987 A. Aronson Shakespeare & Rembrandt xi. 119 Psychological ambivalence is of the very essence of some of Rembrandt's most moving pictures.

1998 Zest July 69/1 Bang in the middle of Glasgow's most hip and happening quarter.

c. Prefixed to the inflected superlative of an adjective. Cf. more adj. 1e. Now regional (chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern)) and humorous.This usage has been censured by grammarians from the 18th cent. onwards.

ΚΠ

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 81 (MED) Ynde is þe grettest and most richest [L. opulentior].

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 186 (MED) Þere scholde þei dwellen with the most fairest damyselles.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxxii[i]. 11 Is there knowlege in the most hyest?

1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. E7^v The three battels..by him in his moste youngest yeares, so miraculouslie foughten.

c1600 W. Fowler tr. N. Machiavelli Prince in Wks. (1936) II. 130 That was mast gretest and dangerous.

1683 W. Penn Let. Free Soc. Traders 6 One of the most wretchedst Spectacles in the World.

1704 J. Blair in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Colonial Church: Virginia (1870) I. 135 Aspersed with the most unsuitest imputations as if I had been raising sedition or rebellion.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones vi. vi. 266 He is the most handsomest, charmingest, finest, tallest, properest Man in the World.

1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xiii. 123 To be sure, they lie maist ewest.

1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. iv. vii. 68 I was always first in the most galliantest [sic] scrapes in my younger days!

1881 E. H. Hickey in Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 236 My most extremest time of misery.

1929 J. B. Philip Weelum o' Manse 26 That man gied the maist po'orfulest..prayer a iver h'ard.

1990 Games Rev. Jan. 35/2 The many Elementals..are perhaps the most best messengers of all.

2. As an intensive superlative modifying adjectives and adverbs: in the greatest possible degree, extremely, very.Frequently in ceremonial titles; for Most Christian, Honourable, Noble, Reverend, etc.: see the second element.

ΚΠ

1387–8 Petition London Mercers in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 33 Moost noble & Worthiest Lordes, most ryghtful & wysest conseille to owre lige Lorde the Kyng.

1389 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 15 My maste swet & lowit thing.

1405 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 58 Mast excellent prince.

1508 W. Dunbar Ballade Barnard Stewart in Poems (1998) I. 177 Most wyse, most valyand, moste laureat hie wictour.

1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 42 §1 The Kynges mooste Riall Magestie.

1559 Abp. M. Parker Let. to Queen Elizabeth I June in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 70 I ought, and do, acknowledge my most bound duty, to be a faithful orator for your grace during my life.

1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. v. 80 O horrible, most horrible.

c1631 T. Lunsford in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. IV. 205 To the King's most excellent Majesty.

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 183 The rinde or skin peeles off most easily.

1688 Earl of Sunderland Let. 4 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. IV. 316 I am, S^r, your most affectionate friend and servant, Sunderland P.

1710 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1886) II. 351 A most vile, stinking Whigg.

1755 S. Johnson Let. 7 Feb. (1992) I. 97 I once boasted myself..Your Lordship's Most humble, most obedient Servant.

1790 W. Bligh Narr. Mutiny on Bounty 35 We should inevitably..have been thrown in sight of that coast: in which case there would most probably have been an end to our voyage.

1853 C. Dickens Let. 21 Sept. (1993) VII. 155 Ever..Most affectionately Yours.

1879 A. Bain Higher Eng. Gram. 150 His argument was most convincing.

1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow i. 17 The man was most amazingly a gentleman all the time, an aristocrat.

1984 M. Wharton Missing Will iv. 144 He..kept a single large blue file marked ‘Most Secret’ (the vulgar, ungrammatical, objectionable American ‘Top Secret’ had not yet been introduced).

1991 M. S. Power Come Executioner (1992) xiii. 137 What would he say if he knew that he..had received information that Parr would be interested, most interested, in a meet?

II. For the most part (and related uses).

†a. Modifying all (occasionally each): mostly, for the most part. Obsolete.For uses where the word all precedes most see almost adv. 1.In this use the sense ‘for the most part’ passes into that of ‘nearly’. Cf. also sense A. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adverb] > for or in the most part

mosteOE

almostOE

mostwhata1200

generally1340

chiefly138.

mostc1390

chiefa1556

mostly1563

substantially1638

prevalently1709

feckly1768

mostlings1808

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. x. 106 He þa Scipia gemong þæm hie mæst ealle ofslog.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1105 He gewann of his broðer Caþum & Baius, & mæst ealle þa castelas & þa heafod men þær on lande him wurdon underþeodde.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1036 Mæst ealle þa þegenas benorðan Temese.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 181 (MED) Mast alle þe hund limen hersumieð þe onre wombe.

a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 7 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 161 (MED) Mest [v.r. Mast] al þet ich habbe idon bi-fealt to child-hade.

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 100 (MED) Þe beoð..biset on vuele, as gentile wummon meast alle nu on worlde.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 48 Me seið up on ancren þet euch meast haueð an ald cwene to feden hire earen.

b. Modifying the verb or predicate: mostly; for the most part, mainly. Now regional (chiefly Scottish and Caribbean). Sc. National Dict. (1965) records the sense as still in use in Shetland and north-eastern Scotland in 1962.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adverb] > for or in the most part

mosteOE

almostOE

mostwhata1200

generally1340

chiefly138.

mostc1390

chiefa1556

mostly1563

substantially1638

prevalently1709

feckly1768

mostlings1808

c1390 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 4033 Hir bord was serued moost with whit and blak.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2117 (MED) Þis land lies mast vnto þe south.

c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 3 (MED) He cam to lerne dyuers sciens, whech were þan most in Greke tonge.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiii^v They vse moost to pull them [i.e. certain weeds] vp with theyr handes.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 598/1 Where kepeth he his resydence moste?

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Dd1^v Although..States are most collected into Monarchies.

1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) i. ii. 72 Those that now inhabite Egypt, are most Moores.

1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 120 As to the Nature of the Inhabitants, they are most of a tawny Complexion.

1744 R. North & M. North Life Sir D. North & Rev. J. North 287 He took most to Silence,..yet, when he did speak, it was much to the Purpose.

1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian x, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 271 Peter Walker the packman, that your honour, I dare say, kens, for he uses maist partly the west-land of Scotland.

1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie xxxiii Though the hoose be fun't upo' a rock, it's maist biggit o'fells.

1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 72 Nae crummie noo, As in past time was seen maist.

1978 in A. W. Shilling Some Non-Standard Features Bahamian Dial. Syntax (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Hawaii) 146 Had to rain for get water most.

1996 in R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage at Most² Most you find he will come on Tuesdays.

4. Almost, nearly.

a. Modifying a verb, prepositional phrase, or clause. Now regional (chiefly Scottish, Irish English (northern), U.S., and Caribbean).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > almost or nearly

nigheOE

well-nigheOE

forneanc1000

well-nearc1175

almostc1261

nighwhatc1300

nearhandc1350

nigh handa1375

nigh handsa1375

as good asc1390

into (right) littlea1413

unto litea1420

nigh byc1430

nearbyc1485

near handsa1500

as near as1517

mosta1538

next door1542

wellmost1548

all but1590

anewst1590

uneath1590

next to1611

nearlya1616

thereaboutsa1616

welly1615

thereabout1664

within (an) ames-ace ofa1670

anear1675

pretty much1682

three parts1711

newsta1728

only not1779

partly1781

in all but name1824

just about1836

nentes1854

near1855

nar1859

just1860

not-quite1870

nearabouta1878

effectively1884

nigh on1887

the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > [adverb] > nearly (of amount)

well-nigheOE

nighOE

well-nearc1175

almostc1261

nighwhatc1300

nara1400

neara1400

anighsta1425

muchwhata1513

wellmost1548

most1629

nighly1694

nearly1769

partly1781

mostly1805

most1808

mostlings1816

about1827

nearabouts1834

fairly1840

welly1859

approaching1951

a1538 A. Abell Roit or Quheill of Tyme f. 25^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mast(e The Romanis maist ourcume the wynge of the Scottis quhare the women myxt faucht with the men.

?1590–1 J. Burel Passage of Pilgremer i, in Poems sig. N His haist than, had maist than, Cost him ane winding sheit.

1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 541 Her forehead was most couered with her Hat.

1636 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae (Wreitton) 243 in Poems (1910) Sometime I musde, and most gone mad.

1742 G. Leoni Notes I. Jones in N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture (ed. 3) II. iv. 49/2 This Architrave returns the Cornice most to the solid of the Pilasters.

1775 in Essex Inst. Historical Coll. (1877) XIII. 198 It is so long since I saw, or heard direct from you that I most forgit you.

1786 R. Burns Poems 60 Ye..gied the infant warld a shog, 'Maist ruin'd a'.

1803 Port Folio 3 97 You know how it most makes you blind, in winter, to look on the snow.

1808 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 344 The distance of most three leagues.

1838 C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron xxvii. 189 I worked my fingers most to the bone for them pictures.

1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting 151 You..wade out, most to the edge of the open water.

1887 A. W. Tourgée Button's Inn 327 Sometimes I 'most forgot him.

1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) 'Tis 'nough to make anybody urn away, most.

1901 S. Merwin & H. K. Webster Calumet ‘K’ i. 6 I 'most met my death climbing up just now.

a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. iv. 87 The street girls..they 'most starve.

1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. i. 26 He moved by jerks, and he had most no tail.

b. Chiefly North American. Modifying certain universal and non-assertive determiners and pronouns, as all, any, every, anyone, everything, etc., and corresponding adverbs of time and place, as always, anywhere, everywhere.Quot. 1629 appears to be an isolated early use unconnected to the main American development of the sense; cf. also sense A. 3a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > [adverb] > nearly (of amount)

well-nigheOE

nighOE

well-nearc1175

almostc1261

nighwhatc1300

nara1400

neara1400

anighsta1425

muchwhata1513

wellmost1548

most1629

nighly1694

nearly1769

partly1781

mostly1805

most1808

mostlings1816

about1827

nearabouts1834

fairly1840

welly1859

approaching1951

1629 W. Sclater Briefe Expos. 2 Thess. (ed. 2) iii. 275 Wee are most all [1627 mostly all] of Issachars Tribe: therefore vsually choose callings of greatest ease.

1770 G. Washington Diary 25 Aug. (1925) I. 395 As the Tassels of most all the Corn..was entirely dry.

1775 J. Andrews Let. 11 Apr. in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1866) 8 403 I think it exceeds most every thing of the kind.

1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing, Major iii. 35 Most all these southern folks are good fellows.

1854 J. E. Cooke Virginia Comedians I. viii. 50 ‘Never argues with women!’ adds Kate, ‘as if he was not arguing with me all the time 'most!’

1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxv. 239 Most everybody's here.

1888 10th Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1887–8 49 You are more sure of a good butter in this cow breed than in most any other.

1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous i. 5 She's 'most always sick on the ocean.

1901 S. Merwin & H. K. Webster Calumet ‘K’ i. 5 That's most all we've been doing for ten days.

1926 Publishers' Weekly 10 July 117 Most any bookbinder will be glad to tell you all about du Pont Fabrikoid.

1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 190/1 Most, almost, nearly. We most always go.

1956 Rev. Sci. Instruments 27 961/2 If K > 1, which is most always the case, then [etc.].

1968 Wall St. Jrnl. 28 Feb. 16/1 In most any organization, the man who succeeds a reformer faces the task of consolidating the reforms while smoothing feathers the reformer has ruffled.

1968 Amer. Notes & Queries Mar. 108/1 A book which touches most all of the high spots for the jet set.

1988 A. Lurie Truth about Lorin Jones 125 Most everyone had short bouncy curls.

1992 Century Home Feb.–Mar. 49/1 Penny and Roger painted most every room white.

Compounds

In sense C. 1b, forming adjectival phrases used attributively in compounds or as compound nouns.

most active list n. (also with capital initials) Stock Market a list of the securities experiencing the highest volume of trading in a given period (usually a day); cf. active list n. (b) at active adj. and n. Compounds 2.In quot. 1885 the securities comprising such a list.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > collection or list of

portfolio1848

active list1857

most active list1885

listing1909

investment portfolio1912

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > types of

redeemables1720

government bond1737

corporate bond1810

trustee security1859

international1863

foreigners1883

most active list1885

gilt-edge1900

actual1908

heavies1922

toxic waste1922

gilt-edged1930

prior charge1930

short1932

gilt1936

performer1939

tap1948

energy security1960

fallen angel1963

medium1968

physicals1974

underperformer1975

taplet1982

1885 Los Angeles Times 7 Mar. The market..continued strong until between 1 and 2 o'clock.., the gains at that time being between 1 and 2 per cent for the most active list.

1890 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 11 May 12/4 Atchison..was bought for Boston, and was on the most active list.

1967 Univ. Pennsylvania Law Rev. 115 692 We..have always had an interest in the Most Active List, which usually gives a day-to-day closeup of current trends.

2008 A. J. Monte & R. Swope Market Guys' Five Points for Trading Success viii. 166 Be aware that a stock may hit the most active list for any variety of reasons, good or bad.

most significant adj. (in computing and numerical analysis) designating the digit in a number (which may be an address in a computer instruction) having the greatest value, that is, the leftmost digit of a number as conventionally written; (also) the byte in a binary number which has the greatest value.

ΚΠ

1951 M. V. Wilkes et al. Prepar. Programs for Electronic Digital Computer i. i. 3 Negative numbers are represented inside the machine by their true complements and the most significant digit of any number is treated in the arithmetical unit as a sign digit.

1987 J. Millman & A. Grabel Microelectronics (ed. 2) vi. 209 The leftmost bit, representing the place value of the highest power of 2, is the most-significant bit (MSB).

1993 D. Libes Obfuscated C & Other Myst. 117 The most significant byte is stored at the same address as the integer on the 680x0 family.

most valuable player n. (also most valued player) Sport (originally Baseball and chiefly North American) the best or most successful player of a team during a season, series, or single match; frequently attributive (usually with capital initials), of an award given to such a player; also abbreviated as MVP (see M n. Initialisms 1).

ΚΠ

1891 Lima (Ohio) Daily News 23 July [He] is the most valuable player on the diamond today.

1912 Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News 10 Oct. 1/1 Speaker, the Boston idol, was presented with an automobile, the award going to the most valued player in the American League.

1954 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 23 229/2 Roy Campanella, catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, was named Most Valuable Player in the National League for 1953.

1966 M. J. Shapiro Year they won Most Valuable Player Award 9 The very beginnings of the Most Valuable Player awards had in their creation the inclusion of intangibles that could never have precise measurement.

2000 N.Y. Times 12 Nov. viii. 7/5 Patrick Ewing was then regarded as one of the most dominant players in the N.B.A.—an annual most valuable player candidate.

most wanted adj. and n. (a) adj. (attributive), designating a person or thing most eagerly sought after, esp. in connection with serious criminal offences; (b) n. such a person or thing.

ΚΠ

1949 Washington Daily News 7 Feb. 22/1 The FBI today listed 10 men as the most-wanted fugitives now at large. They are two accused murderers, four escaped convicts, a bank robber and three confidence men.

1985 T. O'Brien Nucl. Age xii. 277 We spent two days making the rounds of every school in the city. Sarah complained that it was too much like FBI work, like tracking down Most Wanteds.

1994 Air & Space Technol. Nov. 17/2 As for his other most-wanteds, if anyone out there has a Martin Mars flying boat, a Ford Tri-motor, or a Douglas DC-2, don't be surprised if a genial bespectacled man with a camera sidles up to you one day [etc].

2000 N.Y. Times 22 Oct. iv. 15 (advt.) Castro's ‘Most Wanted’ new project—A Cuban Nuclear Plant just like Chernobyl in Russia.

most wanted list n. a list of persons or things most eagerly sought after; spec. a list of fugitives sought in connection with serious criminal offences.

ΚΠ

1930 Pacific Affairs 3 490 The surrender of Samoans previously on the Administration's ‘wanted’ list had proceeded steadily and peacefully, and the jails were already reported full.]

1951 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 23 June 4/2 (heading) Spurned lover turns killer makes ‘Most-Wanted’ List.

1998 Chicago Tribune 15 Mar. i. 11/1 Congress, which asked for Morrison's study, left the task to a collection of lesser-financed international organizations that are slowly compiling a celestial ‘most wanted’ list.

2001 Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 31 Jan. For years, the pair had the dubious distinction of holding down a top-ten position on the ‘most wanted’ list of fugitives published by the FBI.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	most
释义	mostadj.pron.n.adv. Brit. /məʊst/, U.S. /moʊst/ Forms: α. Old English–early Middle English mæst, Old English (chiefly Kentish)–Middle English mest, late Old English–early Middle English meast, early Middle English mæste, early Middle English measte, Middle English meest, Middle English meeste, Middle English meste. β. Old English (Northumbrian)–Middle English (northern) maast, Old English (Northumbrian)–1600s mast, early Middle English masst ( Ormulum), Middle English maste (northern); English regional (northern) 1600s maste, 1800s maast, 1800s maiyast, 1800s meast, 1800s myast, 1800s myest, 1800s– maist, 1800s– measst, 1800s– meeast; Scottish pre-1700 maiste, pre-1700 mast, pre-1700 maste, pre-1700 mayest, pre-1700 mayst, pre-1700 meist, pre-1700 messt, pre-1700 mest, pre-1700 1700s–1800s meast, pre-1700 1700s– maist, pre-1700 1800s maest, 1700s–1800s 'maist (in senses B. 4 and C. 4); Irish English 1800s– maist. γ. Middle English moist, Middle English muste, Middle English 1600s moest, Middle English–1500s moast, Middle English–1500s moost, Middle English–1500s mooste, Middle English–1600s moste, Middle English–1600s must, Middle English– most, 1500s moaste; English regional 1800s– moast (southern), 1800s– mooast (Lancashire), 1800s– moost (southern), 1700s– 'most (in senses B. 4 and C. 4), 1800s– mwoast (southern), 1800s– mwust (southern), 1900s– must (Suffolk); U.S. regional and nonstandard (chiefly in African-American usage) 1800s– mos'; Scottish pre-1700 moist, pre-1700 moiste, pre-1700 moost, pre-1700 mooste, pre-1700 moste, pre-1700 1700s– most. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian māst , Middle Dutch meest (Dutch meest ), Old Saxon mēst , Middle Low German mēst , meist , Old High German meist (Middle High German meist , German meist ), Old Icelandic mestr , Swedish mest , Danish mest , Gothic maists most < a suffixed (superlative: see -est suffix) form of the Germanic base of mo adv.¹Old English māst , the normal Old English development of the Germanic form, is attested only in Northumbrian, but it is not certain whether it existed only in that region. The vowel quality of the usual Old English form (West Saxon mǣst , Kentish mēst ) is unusual. It may have been formed by analogy with lǣst least adj. (or perhaps by i-mutation from an earlier form in ā , although this presents phonological difficulties). The reflex of this form survived in the south until the 15th cent. The establishment of the (originally northern) form most as the only form in the midlands and south was probably due to the influence of the related mo adv.¹ and more adj. Some forms show early shortening of the vowel before the consonant cluster -st (e.g. masst in the β. forms, must in the γ. forms). Some early Middle English examples of mast from southern texts probably also show a shortening of Old English ǣ (compare α. forms). Occasional forms (e.g. Older Scots mest , messt in the β. forms) probably show the influence of early Scandinavian. The southern form most , occasionally spelt moist , was often used by Scottish poets during the 15th and 16th centuries. N.E.D. (1908) records also a 15th-cent. form myst labelled as from Norfolk, although without exemplification; support has not been found for this elsewhere. In branches A. I., A. II., and A. III. the adjective expresses the superlative degree corresponding to modern English great , many , and much respectively. Branch A. III., like the corresponding uses of much and more , probably arose mainly from use as noun in sense B. 1. In sense C. 4 the word is often written 'maist , 'most and understood as an aphetic form of almost , which may be (wholly or partly) its actual origin: compare the Scots form amaist and English regional or nonstandard amost (see further almost adv.). A. adj. and determiner. As a superlative corresponding to senses of the positive adjectives great, many, and much. I. = greatest adj. 1. †1. Greatest in size, stature, bulk, or extent. Chiefly Scottish in later use. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > largest mostOE greatestc1300 OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 32 Soþlice þonne hit wyxþ hit is ealra wyrta mæst. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5509 Hes þohten heom beon on fest, Þer þe hulles weore mest. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 351 (MED) Brut corineus fond Þe strengost man & mest him þouȝte of eni lond. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 385 (MED) Þe moste mountaynez on mor þenne watz no more dryȝe. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 102 (MED) Fra þeine men gase..til..Cassay, þe whilk es þe maste [Fr. la plus grande] citee of þe werld. c1480 (a1400) St. Vincent 358 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 269 Na beste mycht tuth lay on hyme, mast ne leste. a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. Prol. 14 Hervist to rendir hys frutis maste and leste. 1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. D.ij^v The braine is diuided into three partes..of which the foremost part is the moste. 1593 Edinb. Test. XXV. f. 105^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mast(e To..hir sone the maist and best pan. 1633 Edinb. Test. LVI. f. 73, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mast(e My maist & best pott. †2. Chiefly attributive. Greatest in degree. a. As a superlative of comparison: greatest in degree or extent; utmost; esp. (of an emotion or other internal state) greatest in intensity. Obsolete.Later examples of most modifying an abstract noun are here interpreted as having an implicit sense of quantity and have been treated at sense A. 6a; cf. more adj. 1f, 2a, much adj. 1c, 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > greatest in quantity, amount, or degree mosteOE utmosta1325 uttermore1382 utterestc1386 uttermost1429 outmost1447 utter1513 supreme1571 summoperous1647 top1714 mostest1882 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > greatest in degree or extent mosteOE overest1481 supereminent1531 supremec1550 eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. xi. 109 Þonne þæt gefeoht mæst wære. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1111 Ðises geares..gewearð se mæsta orfcwealm þe ænig mann mihte gemunan. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5328 Þe maste lufe he shæweþþ þær. Þatt aniȝ mann maȝȝ shæwenn. c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 14 (MED) Tis ilke unhope is ham meast pine. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 3702 He hafuede mod-kare mest of alre monne. c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 651 To hire was mi meste wene, For to habbe to mi Quene. c1395 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 199 Hir mooste wonder was How that it koude go on, and was of bras. ?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. i. pr. iii. 73 This is my moste purpoos..to displesen to wikkide men. c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) 10968 (MED) Þat was hyr most desyre. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 989 The swerde fayled hym at hys moste nede. 1587 T. Saunders True Discr. Voiage Tripolie sig. Ciij^v I had the Italian and Spanish toongs, by which their most trafike in that countrie is. a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 76 The sence of death is most in apprehension. View more context for this quotation c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 54 [Thy] tressonabill murthoure quhille thaw wold have punised with maist rigoure gif it had bene done be ony uther persons. 1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. iii. vi. 414 The most imaginable Fatigue and Industry. b. As an intensive superlative: very great. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme strangec1380 overpassinga1382 passinga1387 most?c1430 extremec1460 horriblea1464 violenta1500 mainc1540 immortal?c1550 exquisite1552 sore1555 three-piled1598 thundering1618 devilish1639 shrewda1643 deadly1660 woundy1681 vast1696 monstrous1711 mortal1716 terrific1743 hell-fired1754 hellish1764 colossal1794 severe1805 awful1818 all-fired1829 terrible1829 quare and1847 ferocious1877 pluperfect1889 raging1889 giddy1896 utter1898 stiff1905 ?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 174 Þes prestis þat wole not helpe here maistris out of þis moste peril. 1479 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 619 I wryght not so largely to yow as I wold do, for I haue not most leyser. c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. (1821) I. vi Quhen Priapus..Raqueistit me in his maist tendernes To rest ane quhile amid his gardingis bare. 1555 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. xliii. 118 So likewise is freewil a most untruth undoubtedly. a1612 W. Fowler Wks. (1914) I. 325 Messt spreit in cariage, no girning in his face. 3. a. Modifying a noun which expresses a proportion of a whole. Now usually in (the) most part (of). In later use frequently denoting a comparatively larger proportion of a whole; ‘the greater or better part (of)’.In Old and early Middle English only modifying deal n.¹; from the 14th cent. onwards chiefly modifying part n.¹Occasionally (without the or of) forming adverbial phrases (cf. sense A. 3b). In quot. c1275 at sense A. 1 the adverbial accusative mesten dæl is used as a noun in the nominative. most end: especially (see quot. a1400: variant readings are namlikest and maste I traw); cf. most an end adv. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > constituting main or major part mosteOE muchc1225 main1579 major1593 gross1692 the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective] > constituting main or major part > the greater part of mosteOE mostwhat?a1400 eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iii. xi. 81 On þæm [gefeohte] gefeol se mæsta dæl Mæcedonia duguðe. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1116 On þisum ylcan geare..baernde eall þa maeste dæl of þa tuna. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 169 Scheome is þe measte [a1250 Nero meste; a1250 Titus maste] deal..of ure penitence. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 7864 Heom sælliche i-lomp, þæt mesten dæl com a lond. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7582 (MED) Þe mestedel of heyemen, þat in engelond beþ, Beþ icome of þe normans. a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 13 (MED) Þe meste part of þe lond bygon forte synge, ‘alas, ant weylawo!’ c1390 G. Chaucer Melibeus 2225 The mooste partie of that compaignye han scorned this olde wise man. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 14478 (MED) [The Jews] souȝten him to slone And moost ende for þat resoun Þat he vp reised lazaroun. 1423 Petition in Fenland Notes & Queries (1907–9) 7 307 (MED) The most parte of this londe is charged with the grete habondance of water that has falne. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 62 The moste parte of all the barownes..assayde all be rew. 1483 W. Caxton in tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 394/2 The moste parte of the peple of the cyte. 1532 in C. Innes Bk. Thanes Cawdor (1859) 155 The landis and barony of Schancar or the mast part thereof. 1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. Q.ii^v Power is most part impacient. a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) Pref. to Rdr. The most part were of hir Maiesties most honourable priuie Counsell, and the reast seruing hir in verie good place. 1579 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 429 The most noumber shall have the choice and election. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 12 The most parte thought him to be some Monster-little-man. 1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 20 Blood-sucking Inquisitors, of which the most part were mine owne Country-men. 1667 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue (rev. ed.) I. i. iii. 36 Most part of the night we spent in Boozing, pecking rumly. 1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 2 I went and took a view of most part of Hungary. 1732 Ld. Hervey Let. 7 Sept. in Earl of Ilchester Ld. Hervey & Friends (1950) (modernized text) 139 He told her [sc. the Queen] he had had a perpetual cascade upwards and downwards most part of the time he had been there. 1794 J. Woodforde Diary 20 Oct. (1929) IV. 146 Busy most part of the Afternoon in making some Mead Wine. 1847 H. C. Watson Cybele Britannica I. 65 Plants of marshy ground, the roots of which are in water or wet ground most part of the year, or constantly. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Maist feck, the greater part. 1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) 196 A moost paart goos abaout ha'f affter twelve. 1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders 39 The most part of us were out on the heuchs, looking to seaward. 1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. VI. xxii. 93 Yester, great battle lost, nigh Verulamion! Wherein are fallen the most part of Easthost! 1972 Advocate-News (Barbados) 14 Dec. 1 Vehicular traffic was forced to ‘inch along’ for the most part of yesterday. 1990 EMBO Jrnl. 9 4184 (caption) Long (3) viruses, including most part of the G protein ectodomain, was amplified as illustrated at the top. b. for (also †be, in) the most part (also †deal, †party): usually, generally, in general, on the whole, in most cases; as regards the greater or greatest part. Also (rare) without the. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > for the most part for the more party1372 for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387 for the more partc1405 for (the) most partc1405 much dealc1425 in substancea1450 for the mostc1531 in (also for) the generality1580 for the general1581 in (also for, on, upon) the maina1591 largely1594 principally1600 in chiefa1616 mainly1640 nine times (parts, etc.) out of (also in, of) ten1648 greatly1742 as a rule1828 the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority the more partOE the best part ofOE (the) more parta1350 (the) most parta1350 (the) most part alla1350 (the) most party1372 for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387 the better part ofa1393 the mo?a1400 most forcea1400 substancea1413 corsec1420 generalty?c1430 the greater partc1430 three quartersc1470 generalityc1485 the most feck1488 corpse1533 most1553 nine-tenths?1556 better half1566 generality?1570 pluralityc1570 body1574 the great body (of)1588 flush1592 three fourths1600 best1601 heap1609 gross1625 lump1709 bulk1711 majority1714 nineteen in twenty1730 balance1747 sweighta1800 heft1816 chief1841 the force1842 thick end1847 a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 219 Now for þe moste deel he fleeþ mannys siȝt. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 196 (MED) Þei holden for the moste partye the..customs & gode maneres as men of the contree aboue-seyd. a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 324 (MED) The fals man walkith fro towne to towne, For the moste parte with a thredbare gowne. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Chron. (1812) I. ccccxxvi. 746 Y^e lorde of Coucy went to Mortayn..and there refresshed hym and his company; but for the most partye he hymselfe was with the kyng at Turney. a1540 (c1460) G. Hay tr. Bk. King Alexander 3289 Be the maist part all was tane and slane. 1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iii. sig. Gg.ii For moste part these kinde of iniurious persons..are menne wel stricken in yeeres. c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 205 The auld fundationis,..and utheris wreittis,..of kirklandis war for the maist pairt distroyed. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (2 Cor. vii. 3) Such faithful friends are in this age all for the most part gone in pilgrimage. 1683 J. Turner Pallas Armata 171 The Persians, Turks, Russians, Polonians, and Hungarians, for most part wear Scimiters and Shables. 1715 J. Addison Freeholder No. 20. ⁋8 A House of Commons, which..must consist for the most part of Landed Men. a1760 T. Gifford Hist. Descr. Zetland (1786) vii. 64 The Umboth tythes are for the most part a rental tythe. 1798 Trans. Soc. Promotion Agric., Arts, & Manuf. (U.S.) 3 116 The soil is clay, destitute of stones, and for the most part oak timbered. 1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. viii. 166 The shops were for the most part closed. 1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iii. 146 Whatsoever is not sung is properly no Poem, but a piece of Prose cramped into jingling lines,—to the great injury of the grammar, to the great grief of the reader, for most part! 1871 S. Smiles Character viii. 220 Men of the greatest genius have been for the most part cheerful, contented men. 1932 Oxf. Compan. Eng. Lit. 756/1 It [sc. Journal to Stella] is a series of intimate letters..for the most part written in baby language. 1960 New Scientist 10 Mar. 612 Mental hospitals..are places where, for the most part, an enlightened therapeutic programme and an open-door policy prevails. 1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 13 May e11 This claim is, ‘in the most part, simply untrue,’ said league president Joseph Benedict at a press conference this week. 1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 13 Sept. 14/3 I am a white, middle-class, female Angelino who agrees in most part with Cornel West. 2001 Independent 11 Jan. ii. 1/1 An ambulance crew is working, for the most part, alone. 4. a. Of a person: greatest in respect of power, authority, importance, or consequence. Formerly frequently (chiefly Scottish) in † most master n. a ruler, commander; (also) the winner in a contest, etc. (obsolete). Now Scottish and rare. Sc. National Dict. (1965) records this sense as still in use in south-western Scotland in 1962. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important mosteOE foremostc1000 headOE headlyOE nexta1200 umest1513 primary1565 headest1577 ruling1590 forward1591 capital1597 of the first magnitude1643 palmary1646 top1647 prepondering1651 headmost1661 home1662 life-and-death1804 palmarian1815 bada1825 key1832 première1844 society > authority > [adjective] > supreme (of authority) > having supreme authority mosteOE sovereign1340 overest1481 supreme1496 primea1591 sovran1649 rankest1907 society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] waldendeOE prince?c1225 ordainerc1300 tyranta1340 prefecta1382 rulera1382 wieldera1382 corner of the people1382 lordshipperc1384 governora1393 moderatora1398 wieldinga1400 leader of lawsc1400 regent1415 governailc1440 dominatorc1450 reignera1464 regnanta1500 gubernator1522 despot1562 shepherd1577 swayer1598 Sophy1599 most mastera1616 Govr.1620 Gov.1630 archon1735 society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > [noun] heretogac900 marshal1258 chevetaine1297 chieftainc1330 arrayerc1370 governora1382 master of (the) chivalrya1382 leadera1387 war-headlinga1400 emperorc1400 captain1450 conductor1483 grand captain1531 commendador1580 lodesman1581 conducta1592 commander1598 induperator1599 war-captain1610 war-chief1610 war-leader1610 most mastera1616 commandant1687 commandant-general1827 baron1919 eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) i. xvi. 88 Se mæsta cempa & se hehsta þæs heofonlican weorodes Sanctus Paulus se apostol. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xviii. 1 Dicentes quis putas maior est in regno caelorum : hia cueðende huelc wenes ðu maast is in ric heofna. c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 813 (MED) Let us onswerien þe meast kempe..& kenest of ow alle. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2735 (MED) Þe segges were a-slepe..al but þe mest maister. a1400 Prose Life Christ (Pepys) (1922) 87 (MED) And þo bigonnen hij forto stryuen amonges hem, which schulde be moist maister and heiȝest. 1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) xxi. i. sig. dd.iij^v He that was the moost kyng and knyght of the world. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 1098 The worthy Scottis maist maister. a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 210 Kynge Clarion, that was the moste man of the hoste of alle the Geauntes. 1570 in A. I. Cameron Warrender Papers (1931) I. 81 The indifferentis will yeld to the maist maisters. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iii. 149 Shee'le..dandle thee like a Baby: Though in this place most Master weare no Breeches. View more context for this quotation b. Of a thing: chief, main, principal. most hand: almost entirely, chiefly; (also as n.) the most part. Now Scottish and English regional (Yorkshire). Conc. Sc. Dict. (1985) records this sense as still in use. The adverbial phrase most hand is recorded by Sc. National Dict. (1965) as still in use in north-eastern Scotland and Shetland in 1962. ΚΠ c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2867 Þatt wass..Þe maste þing. forr whatt ȝho wass. Þatt time cumenn þære. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10734 Þiss iss þe þridde kinne mahht. Þatt soþ meocnesse shæweþþ..& itt iss mast & heȝhesst off hemm alle. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxii. 38 This is the firste and the most [L. maximum] maundement. c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. 192 (MED) I was most cause of her confusioun. ?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 65 (MED) The most thinge that greuid her was her good and gay clothing. 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) i. iii. 14 Ryght dere lord and kynge, the grettest and most thinge that I desire is that thou haue..a gloryous and vertuous lyf. a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 10799 (MED) Þere his moste dwelling shal be Wel may men calle it her cuntre. a1500 How Good Man taught his Son (Harl.) 186 in Erlanger Beiträge zur Englischen Philol. (1889) 2 35 The moost þyng þat certeyn ys. c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) i. iii. 15 Turffe and seacole is theire most fewell. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 51 Dunnotyre..maist mansione of the Erles of Marchel. a1784 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherd 122 in Sc. National Dict. at Maist But can ye now of her nae cuttance gie Or where about her maist resort may be? 1835 D. Webster Orig. Sc. Rhymes 4 The maist thing that troubled the bodies, I think was their hungry wames. 1868 G. MacDonald Robert Falconer I. xii I hae been thinkin' o' a plan for maist han' toomin' hell. 1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Maist-hand, for the most partly, chiefly. 1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby For t' maist hand. 1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 80/1 He'll a getten t'maisthand on't lest week. †c. Modifying a noun characterizing a person as a particular type: entitled to, deserving, or embodying the characterization in the highest degree; worst or best; biggest. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > that is such in a high degree > entitled to designation in high degree > in highest degree mostc1300 uttermostc1572 utterest1593 c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 1917 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 161 (MED) Þe foure þat mest schrewes weren bi-þouȝten hem of guyle. c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) 1611 (MED) Þe meste wreche of alle Wiþ a strok me doþ adoun falle. c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 505 Yet was he to me the mooste shrewe. a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. 225 (MED) O thou Fortune, most fool off foolis all. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 207 b/2 Fle hens thou moste wretche. a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iv. iv. sig. G.j The moste loute and dastarde that euer on grounde trode. 1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 287^v Becaus thow art the maist fule now on lyfe. 1605 G. Chapman Al Fooles in Wks. (1873) I. 149 These politicians..are our most fooles. 1625 T. Middleton Game at Chæss iii. ii. (end) She's caught, and, which is strange, by her most wronger. 1688 W. Scott True Hist. 77 A Poet's the most fool beneath the skyes. 1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 439 He had been a most Mad-man had he stood against them. 1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 27 The maist mester-fiend o' a storm o' wind..blew ower a' the brakan' isles o' Orkney. †d. With in, of. Of a person: that is the greatest with respect to, or is best endowed with a specified quality, virtue, etc. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > having some attribute in a great degree > in greatest degree mosta1325 a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 900 He [sc. Melchisedech] was boðen king and prest, Of elde most, of wit hegest. c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) 461 Þe fairest man & mest of main..It is sir Amis. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 205 How he þat o myght es mast Send in till erth his haly gast. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 316 (MED) Þis Cesare was moost in generalte and larges. a1500 (?c1400) Sir Gowther (Adv.) (1886) 755 (end) Gyff us myȝt with hym to won, þat lord, þat is most of meyn! Amen. 1533 in F. J. Furnivall Ballads from MSS (1868) I. 380 Wheron to rest, And build hir nest, God graunte hir, moste of might! 1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) i. 7 Welcum, oure plesand princes maist of pryce! 1675 in M. Wood Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1950) X. 241 Two or thrie of the worthiest maisters and maist of knowledge of the said crafts. †e. most and least (also least and most): of highest and lowest station, greatest and humblest; (in extended use) everyone, all those concerned. poetic in later use. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. 4712 (MED) To God þey highte to make a feste Wyþ alle þe comme[n]s, lest & meste. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xxxviii. 170 (MED) There was..gret feste amonges tho barowns bothe lest and Meste. c1480 (a1400) St. Martha 198 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 290 Al hyre covent, leste & maste. a1500 ( J. Lydgate Q. Margaret's Entry into London 100 in Mod. Lang. Rev. (1912) 7 229 The Kynge will make hys ffeste Alle thyng is redy plentie and suffisaunce Praied for to come gestes moost and leste. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. 18 Duke Tharcon and the Tuscanys maste and lest Not fer from thens..Thar palȝeonys all had plantyt. 1817 ‘W. Whistlecraft’ & ‘R. Whistlecraft’ Prospectus National Work King Arthur i. ii. 8 Thither came the Vassals, most and least, From every corner of this British Isle. 1875 H. Ellison Stones from Quarry 60 And yet He spreads for all, both most and least; None away empty sent! II. As a superlative corresponding to many. 5. a. Modifying a plural count noun: the greatest number of; the majority of. Formerly occasionally with the or possessive adjective. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [adjective] > most numerous mosteOE umberst1599 eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Him mon eac mid oþrum floccum sohte mæstra daga ælce, [oþþe on dæg] oþþe on niht. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 169 (MED) Mest manne him gremede mid scorne. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xix. 250 And who þat moste maistries can, be myldest of berynge. a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 5 Whereof the most peple were sory. 1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 11^v Vertue is harbored in the heart of him that most men esteeme misshapen. 1628 Bp. J. Hall Olde Relig. Ep. Ded. I haue passed my most, and best houres in quiet Meditation. 1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. xxiii. 7) 180 Abrahams behaviour to these Hittites may shame the most Christians. 1701 T. Tuttell Descr. Math. Instruments in J. Moxon Math. made Easie (ed. 3) 1 Most Questions in Arithmetick. 1737 D. Waterland Rev. Doctr. Eucharist 7 He will..fall short in most Things, for want of Compass, and larger Views. 1790 J. Bentham Wks. (1843) X. 233 Accustomed to view things in the great, this virtue, if it be one, costs me no less, perhaps, than most people. 1833 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 2 360 Muriate of copper is described in most books of chemistry as a liquid of a bright green colour. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lx. 427 Party loyalty [is] strong enough, with most people. a1940 F. S. Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1941) i. 11 At that age, when one has the young illusion that most adventures are good, I needed only a bath and a change to go on for hours. 1976 G. Gordon 100 Scenes from Married Life 42 Life's only interesting because we're not most people, we're us. b. most times: usually, in the majority of cases. Now colloquial and regional. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > in habitual or customary use [phrase] > usually or ordinarily in general1526 most times1556 of (also for, in) ordinary1556 in a general way1660 in common1819 as a rule1828 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxxxviii. 102 Manie small making a greate, There pollisie (keping their pour in store:) Hath most times erst, brought vs our selues to beate. 1673 A. Behn Dutch Lover v. i. 79 As it most times happens, We marry where our Parents like, not we. 1895 ‘C. Hare’ Down Village Street 203 They'm middlin geed children most times. 1989 J. Taylor Circus of Ambition v. 158 Most times Simpson didn't really mean what he was saying. †c. With a singular noun: numerically strongest. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1638 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 487 It was..agreed upon, by comon consent and most voice in oppen court. III. As a superlative corresponding to much. 6. a. Of something abstract: existing in the greatest quantity, amount, or degree; manifested in a person or action to the highest degree, or in the most outstanding or exemplary form. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > greatest in quantity, amount, or degree > greatest quantity or amount of mostc1275 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14575 Faste he heold Chirchestre mid strengðe þan mæste. ?a1300 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Digby) xiii, in Anglia (1881) 4 192 (MED) Þere þe bale is mest, Þere is þe bote nest. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 12481 In þe moste pres Yder sprong. c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 406 Bot moste harm in þis mater stondes in þis; þat þei perverte þo feythe of þo gospel. a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 23 (MED) Of all angels in brightnes, God gaf lucifer most lightnes. c1503 tr. Charter of London in R. Arnold Chron. f. v/2 Our trewe men doo vs to vnderstonde that moost prayeng and leste profyt myght falle to the same cite and to me. 1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. i. 125/1 Thy crucified Christe, is but an yesterdayes God, the gods of y^e Gentiles are of most antiquitie. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. ix. 83 The square is of all other accompted the figure of most solliditie and stedfastnesse. 1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah 427 Where he powreth foorth most benefits, he expecteth most gratefulnesse. 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 73 It is a bird of the flippantst wing, which as it moueth with most nimblenesse, so it doth the greatest mischiefe. 1667 K. Philips Poems 191 Of thy garments fair and white, The neatness gives us most delight. 1720 J. Ozell et al. tr. R. A. de Vertot Hist. Revol. Rom. Republic I. iv. 20 At those tumultuous Assemblies..such had most Authority as could make most Noise. 1735 J. Swift Gulliver Introd. Let., in Wks. III. iii Have not I the most Reason to complain? 1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. vi. 44 The strength corresponds with most exactness to the general state of the body with regard to strength. 1795 T. Jefferson Let. 29 Apr. in Writings (1984) cxii I do presume that this is the business which would yield the most happiness & contentment to one of your philosophic turn. 1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters IV. 267 The work will..have most power which was begun with most patience. 1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities iii. x. 216 By the elder, I mean him who exercised the most authority. a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xvii. 407 ‘That's the best graft,’ explained he. ‘It means the most money, and the most influence.’ 1960 Woman 23 Apr. 73/4 What gave him most joy was a yellow polo jersey that Frances knitted for him. 1980 S. J. Gould Panda's Thumb (1982) xiv. 152 Craniometry, or measurement of the skull, commanded the most attention and respect. 1996 A. H. Gauthier in D. Coleman Europe's Population in 1990s ix. 300 It was in France, with its long tradition of pro-natalism, that this question was given most prominence. b. Existing in the greatest quantity or amount; of the greatest quantity or amount. ΚΠ c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 141 (MED) In þe contrey of kanterbury mest [v.r. most] plente of fiss is, & mest chas a boute salesbury..At londone ssipes mest & win at winchestre. c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 15 (MED) Alexander..sent þe maste substance of his Oste to þe Cite of Askalon. ?1575 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (new ed.) 388 Vnto him that offred most siluer..the priesthood was giuen: as when a garment is sold by the drumme. 1594 J. Ogle Lament. Troy sig. H2 But who hath most gold him doe they reuerence. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. v. 218 They cal that poore which yields least silver,..and that riche which yields most silver. 1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. xi. 54 The Ships that drawes most water are commonly the most wholsome. a1686 J. Rawlet Poet. Misc. 64 The Moon from view retir'd, receives most light From Heaven, and Heaven-ward shines most bright. 1700 S. Parker 6 Philos. Ess. 53 Physicians, of all people, gather most Money next to the Collectors of the Taxes. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 84 Such waters as contain most air..are found the lightest and purest. 1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. iii. 548 The expedient which will raise most money, is almost always preferred. View more context for this quotation 1835 C. M. Sedgwick Tales & Sketches 18 He was the wealthiest man in Carrington, owned most land, and had most ready money. 1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xxxi. 298 I like to talk with the strongest man in England, or the man who can drink the most beer in England. 1898 ‘M. Field’ World at Auction ii. p. xxviii Yielding them up to him who has most gold. 1915 J. Hay Reminisc. Earliest Canterbury 83 The quarter from which we got the most rain was the south-west. 1967 R. H. MacArthur & E. O. Wilson Theory of Island Biogeogr. vii. 149 Genotypes which harvest the most food (even if wastefully) will rear the largest families and be most fit. 1991 T. Mitchell Blood Sport Pref. p. ix Vying with each other to see who could make the most racket and quaff the most wine from pigskin botas. B. pron. and n. I. As a superlative corresponding to much. 1. a. The greatest amount or quantity; the highest quality (of something implied); the best to be expected or achieved. In later use, frequently the most. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > the greatest amount or quantity mostOE whole hog1838 mostest1887 whole-hogger1914 OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1011 Þonne hi mæst to yfele gedon hæfdon. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5882 Þatt goddspellwrihhte. Þatt mast wrat..Off cristess goddcunndnesse. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 112 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 (MED) Þe ðe lest wat biseið ofte mest. c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 671 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 318 (MED) Man hath of eorþe al is bodi, and..Ho-so hath of þe eorþe mest, he is slouȝ ase þe Asse. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 1194 (MED) For whan he weneth most beyete, Thanne is he schape most to lese. 1419 in C. Innes Bk. Thanes Cawdor (1859) 6 To sel thaim to hym or to ony uthir that wil gif mast for thaim. c1480 (a1400) St. Pelagia 49 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 205 Þat quha-sa wald mast hir gefe. a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 140 Quha maist hes than sall maist repent. 1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 162 Four hundred Crowns had been the most that my old Predecessor had given yearly. 1692 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 2) ii. 91 The most that can be inferred from hence is, a transmutation of Species. a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. iii. §43. 147 The most, that any close Inspection can scry, out of it, is, that a Party was found that would oppose the Exclusion Bill. 1788 J. Madison in Federalist Papers xxxvii. 3 The most that the convention could do in such a situation, was to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of other countries, as well as of our own. a1854 E. Grant Mem. Highland Lady (1988) I. vii. 135 Mr Thompson, from whom we learned the most, did not take matters so easily. 1877 H. James American xxii. 389 The most she has done for me has been not to turn me out of the house. 1907 Catholic Encycl. I. 707/1 He [sc. John Argyropulos]was one of those who contributed most to the revival of Greek learning in Italy. 1952 Ann. Reg. 1951 138 The most that could be claimed was that the Communists had been ‘contained’. 1972 Accountant 5 Oct. 422/1 The company with a poor loss record has most to gain from self-insurance. 1991 Coarse Fishing Feb. 10/3 If things carried on as they were the most I could hope for was 5lb, not nearly enough to win. †b. With noun in the genitive. Obsolete.Only in Old English and early Middle English. ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxiv. 54 [Sume t]iliað mid micelre [geo]rnfulnesse wifa, forðæm þæt he þurh ðæt mæge mæst bearna be[git]an. c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 14 & tu schalt, wummone meast, wunne & weole wealden. †c. Scottish. all one's most: one's utmost. Obsolete.In quot. 1487 as an adverbial phrase. ΚΠ 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 818 Quhen all thair mast assalȝeit thai, And the schot thikkest [wes] with-all [etc.]. a1586 W. Dunbar in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1919) I. 289 He þat makis all his maist seruice He may it tyne. d. to make the most of: to employ to the best advantage; to derive what limited advantage one can from; to represent or exhibit in the best light or in the light most advantageous to one's ends. Formerly also †to make most of: to treat with the greatest consideration (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > be advantageous or beneficial to [verb (transitive)] > take advantage of > turn to account > turn to best advantage to make the most of1526 optimize1817 the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > treat kindly [verb (transitive)] > treat considerately to make the most of1526 the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > make ostentatious display of [verb (transitive)] flourishc1380 show1509 ostent1531 ostentatec1540 to ruffle it1551 to brave out1581 vaunt1590 boasta1592 venditate1600 to make the most ofa1627 display1628 to make (a) parade of1656 pride1667 sport1684 to show off1750 flash1785 afficher1814 affiche1817 parade1818 flaunt1822 air1867 showboat1937 ponce1953 rock1987 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Dv^v He maketh moste of vs and cherissheth vs. 1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Epistle (1880) 22 Thackwell is..permitted to make the most he could of his presse and letters. a1627 J. Hayward Life & Raigne Edward Sixt (1630) 73 The most[was] made of that which was true, and many falsities added. 1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. ii. xxiii. 36 I alwaies made the most of the youngest. 1694 J. Collier Misc. v. 69 When you have made the most of it, I foresee this Latitudinarian Love will be expensive. 1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. iv. 6 How to make the most of her Beauty. 1748 G. G. Beekman Let. 3 Sept. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 60 It [sc. brown sugar] be so Exceedingly Dirty more so then Any french Sugars I ever say [sic]. Shall make the most of it. 1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 108 Whereas, when I say, ‘There were a few men with him’; I evidently intend to make the most of them. 1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. v. 108 Lawyers..to draw his contracts, his pre-contracts, and his post-contracts, and to find the way to make the most of grants of church-lands, [etc.]. 1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xxiii. 5 Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend. 1891 Temple Bar June 167 He..made the most of his opportunity. 1959 B. Kops Hamlet of Stepney Green 170 Make the most of your life—because life is a holiday from the dark. 1973 L. Cooper Tea on Sunday vi. 60 She was good looking in her way, but..she didn't know how to make the most of herself. 1987 Which? Oct. 499/2 Unless you're willing to buy better speakers, you won't be making the most of CD. e. The greatest part of, the majority of (followed by a singular noun or pronoun). †Occasionally with the. Cf. sense A. 4b. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority the more partOE the best part ofOE (the) more parta1350 (the) most parta1350 (the) most part alla1350 (the) most party1372 for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387 the better part ofa1393 the mo?a1400 most forcea1400 substancea1413 corsec1420 generalty?c1430 the greater partc1430 three quartersc1470 generalityc1485 the most feck1488 corpse1533 most1553 nine-tenths?1556 better half1566 generality?1570 pluralityc1570 body1574 the great body (of)1588 flush1592 three fourths1600 best1601 heap1609 gross1625 lump1709 bulk1711 majority1714 nineteen in twenty1730 balance1747 sweighta1800 heft1816 chief1841 the force1842 thick end1847 1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique sig. ee3 He cometh naughtily by moste of that, whiche he hath. 1659 J. Milton Consider. touching Hirelings 129 [They] have had the most of thir breeding both at schoole and universitie by schollarships. 1659 T. Fuller Appeal Iniured Innocence ii. 18 Those Sholes of People..came into Juitland, and thence Inunded the most of Europe. 1697 London Gaz. No. 3250/4 Lost.., a large Silver Japan headed Cane, the ground of it Shagreen, and the Japan Work most of it gilt. 1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 273 Then it was that many shifted away that had stayed most of the time before. 1753 J. Bartlet Gentleman's Farriery xxxvi. 282 If the horse stands too low with his hind legs, most of his weight will rest upon them. 1805 Edinb. Rev. 6 244 Most of our coal has been discovered..by exploring their outcrops. 1885 Fortn. in Waggonette 44 A thick Inverness cape covers the most of his person. 1916 A. Huxley Let. 7 Aug. (1969) 109 I have been sleeping out on the roof..spending most of the night in conversation or in singing folk-songs and rag-time to the stars. 1931 H. Belloc Hist. Eng. IV. i. 127 Much of the most of English wealth in 1536 came from tillage. 1982 N. Sedaka Laughter in Rain (1983) i. i. 20 There was never much money, and Mom had to work throughout most of her childhood. †f. The truest case or example of a type of person or thing. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1779 Let. Feb. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1994) III. 244 I often say Dr. Burney is the most of a male Coquet of any man I know. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. vii. vii. 112 I should have chosen the youngest, and the most of a lady's man. 2. In phrases used adverbially. †a. with (also mid) the most: in the utmost degree; in the greatest quantity; to the full. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ 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 never solOE with (also mid) the mostc1275 for the masteryc1325 to the bestc1390 to the uttermostc1400 at the hardest1429 to the utmostc1450 to the skies (also sky)1559 at float1594 all to nothing1606 to the height1609 to the proofa1625 to the last degree1639 to the welkin?1746 (the) worst kind1839 for all it's worth1864 as —— as they make them?a1880 in the highest1897 to the nth (degree, power)1897 up to eleven1987 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2547 He wes swike mid þan meste. c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 274 (MED) Sorwe he makeþ wiþ þe mest Of Felice þat feir may. c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 5457 (MED) Porus þe kyng had wille wiþ þe mest To wite of Alisaunders estre. a1500 Sir Degrevant (Cambr.) (1949) 1419 (MED) Þer ware metus with þe maste. a1598 W. Cecil Certaine Preceptes (1617) iii. 11 Feede them [sc. servants] well, and paye them with the most. 1629 J. Gaule Panegyrick 10 in Practique Theories Christs Predict. Our gratefull acknowledgement of his Goodnesse, when it is with the most; is but a slender requitall for his Benefits. b. at (the) most: as the greatest amount, as the best possible; on the highest or most generous estimate. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > a great quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at (very) most at (the) mostc1300 at the largea1398 at uttermost1530 at the utmost (at utmost)1619 at the outside1852 c1300 St. Brendan (Harl.) (1844) 31 (MED) Ther thu schalt fourti dayes bileve atte meste. a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 947 He spak inough, for o day at the meeste. 1453 in J. P. Collier Trevelyan Papers (1857) 25 (MED) If the chaplen dy, elec another honest man..within foure monethis at the most. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxx. C A thousand of you shal fle for one, or at the most for fyue. 1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 47 in Jewell House That salt, whereof the Peter men doo gather a bushell or two at the most, from thirty tunnes of earth. 1606 in J. Stuart Sel. Rec. Kirk Aberdeen (1846) 54 Fyve or sex at the maist of the speciall freyndis of the defunct. 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 196 One degree of Longitude under the thirty seventh degree of Latitude,..consists but of fifty minutes at the most. 1756 F. Brooke Old Maid No. 30. 177 After these entered a tall child, at most but in her thirteenth year. 1794 J. Anderson Peat Moss 39 Each of which is of a size just as much as one or at most two men have cut out in a day. a1854 E. Grant Mem. Highland Lady (1988) II. xix. 48 Two, or at the most three, instruments sufficed for band. 1885 Law Times 79 38/1 The duty of the magistrate should be at most ancillary to that of the doctor. 1909 G. M. R. Levinsen Cheilostomatous Bryozoa 46 Heterozoœcia.., which have no intestinal canal, and at most have a trace of a polypide in a small cell-body. 1953 A. C. Clarke Prelude to Space (rev. ed.) xxii. 115 If..there's a last-minute hold-up, launching will be delayed.., at the most, thirty-six hours. 1987 C. Tomalin Katherine Mansfield xiii. 179 She had at most four years to live if she did not follow this advice. †c. for the most: for the most part. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > for the most part for the more party1372 for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387 for the more partc1405 for (the) most partc1405 much dealc1425 in substancea1450 for the mostc1531 in (also for) the generality1580 for the general1581 in (also for, on, upon) the maina1591 largely1594 principally1600 in chiefa1616 mainly1640 nine times (parts, etc.) out of (also in, of) ten1648 greatly1742 as a rule1828 c1531 H. Latimer in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) I. App. xliii. 119 Those other, for the most, teach nothing, but that whych ys manifest in the Scripture. 1584 A. Barlowe in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) iii. 730 They..are of colour yellowish, and their haire blacke for the most. ?1594 D. Monro Descr. W. Isles (1961) 9 Within the sanctuarie also lyis for the maist the Lords of the Iles. a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) v. i. 437 They say best men are moulded out of faults, And for the most, become much more the better For being a little bad. View more context for this quotation d. the most: to the greatest degree or extent, most of all. Cf. sense C. 1. ΚΠ 1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine iii. i. 160 He loves not most that doth lament the most. 1668 S. Pepys Diary 1 Mar. (1976) IX. 99 A Starling which..doth whistle and talk the most and best that ever I heard anything in my life. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. sig. 35b That is..best which being rubb'd with the Hand creeks the most. 1782 W. Cowper Table Talk in Poems 88 The lie that flatters I abhor the most. 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 16 The cotton wood, elm, mulberry, and nettle trees suffered the most. 1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 525 I did the worst to him I loved the most. 1919 C. H. Darling Jargon Bk. 25 Pet peeve, the thing that provokes you the most. 1964 A. Staples Paddo 105 Our members are the best, our beach has the best surf, our blokes stick together the most. 1996 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Nov. a28/1 China is the nation that baffles him the most. II. = greatest n. 3. Someone or something that is greatest in some respect. †a. The eldest. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [adjective] > older than an age > eldest eldestc1000 mostc1275 heldesta1400 oldest1478 greatest1535 patriarchal1806 aîné1831 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 11567 Mauric, þe mæste of his childeren. †b. The greatest, highest-ranking, or most prominent person. Also used occasionally of an animal, etc. Frequently in most and least: all without exception. poetic. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > people > people collectively > [noun] > all people all the worldOE all ledea1275 more and minc1275 most and leasta1300 much and litec1330 mo and lessc1426 the whole world1530 cut and long tail1576 universal1596 general1604 universality1606 university1677 all outdoors1833 John Q.1937 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of people mosta1300 principala1382 principal?a1425 capitalc1475 supreme1496 chief1535 leading1631 staple1642 big league1917 high-level1947 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [adjective] > of highest social rank highestOE mosta1300 upperestc1374 uppermost1876 rankest1907 a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 335 Cethegrande is a fis, Ðe moste ðat in water is. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 198 And for hise sinne oc he to munen, Ðat moste and leiste him ben binumen. c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 131 Chese yow a wyf..Born of the gentileste and of the meeste Of al this lond. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 1659 (MED) Fra þe mast dun to þe lest, Sal neþer liue ne fouul ne best. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xii. 382 (MED) He Comandede bothe lest & Mest. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 59 b/1 Moyses..gadred all the most of byrthe. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Heb. viii. 11 They shall a knowe me, from the lest to the moste off them. ?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 1 I am..acquainted with the most, and well knoen too the best, and euery officer glad of my company. 1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne viii. lxxii. 156 Enuenoming the harts of most and least. 1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd i. 8 So stand forth free and unfree; stand forth both most and least. 1879 R. Browning Pheidippides in Dramatic Idyls 39 Then praise Pan who fought in the ranks with your most and least. 1908 J. Payne Quia Amore Langueo in Carol & Cadence 224 Love for Nature's most and least Thrones it in my heart of heart. c. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). the most (in predicative use): the best or finest example, ‘the best’; something that is extremely good. Cf. greatest n., mostest adj. 2. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [adjective] highestOE bestOE firstlOE greatest?c1225 of the besta1350 premiera1500 paramount1530 supremec1550 supreme1571 primer1589 top1647 nulli secundus1742 bestest1751 first class1819 beatemest1831 par excellence1839 première1844 first rate1853 beatenest1860 blue ribbon1860 optimum1885 optimal1890 class A1906 all-star1908 grade A1911 five-star1931 mostest1936 tip-topmost1937 the end1950 the most1953 1953 Time 17 Aug. 3/1 It's the most! 1954 New Yorker 18 Sept. 30/1 I'm feeling the most today. 1963 J. O. Killens And then we heard Thunder 15 Sam's Army is just about the most. 1969 H. Waugh Young Prey (1970) 6 ‘So—you like the ride ?’.. ‘No kidding, it was the most!’ 1976 L. Rosten 3:10 to Anywhere 27 You're the most, doll-face. 1984 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring–Summer 47 This vinyl tote's ‘the most’ for holding all your necessities and then some. III. As a superlative corresponding to many. 4. Usually with plural agreement. The greatest number. a. The greatest number of people or things; the majority. †Occasionally with the. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > greater number, majority moeOE unfewc1175 most?a1400 most forcea1400 substancea1413 overmatch1542 flush1592 the (great, vast) mass of1604 the millions1604 stream1614 numbers1638 the multiplicity of1639 majority1650 ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 2834 Mast [a1450 Lamb. most] salle haf þat mast may do. 1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum 38 The most here doe vnderstand this signe. 1670 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 21 Upon the Queene's Birthday most wore embraudered bodys. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1656 (1955) III. 178 We went to Dedham... This is (as most are in Essex) a Clothing Towne, and lies in the unwholsome hundreds. 1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 205 Most believ'd it rather a dislike of some Church-men, and of some introducements of Theirs. 1791 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 22/2 A gentleman..who felt the infirmities of age at an earlier period than most do. 1833 H. Martineau Charmed Sea i Her indifference was towards..most who crossed her daily path. 1852 M. Arnold Youth of Nature 71 Sunk..Too deep for the most to discern. 1959 G. Savage Antique Collector's Handbk. 70 The earliest maiolica was a series of wares painted in green and manganese purple at Orvieto and elsewhere, and most are loosely called ‘Orvieto ware’. 1987 Z. Tomin Coast of Bohemia v. 171 It's the shock—you've had it worse than most, I should imagine. 1995 D. Berlinski Tour of Calculus xxii. 262 Many mathematicians, it is true, are Platonists, and most think of themselves as visionary. b. The most numerous part of an aggregate specified or implied, the majority. Frequently with of.Frequently with the until the 20th cent., but now usually without article. ΚΠ c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 2 (MED) I schal gyf to hym the moste of my goodes. 1488 in T. Thomson Coll. Inventories Royal Wardrobe (1815) 4 Fund in the maist of the said cofferis lous & put in na thing bot liand within the said coffyr[is] 570 rois nobilis. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Matt. xi. 20 The cities, in the which most of his miracles were done. 1565 A. Golding tr. Caesar Martiall Exploytes in Gallia iv. f. 102^v Most of our shyps were thus broosed and weatherbeaten. 1588 J. Udall State Church of Eng. sig. C3 The most of them woulde neuer deale in that lawe at home. a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 583 For she seemes a Mistresse To most that teach. View more context for this quotation 1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 173 Moste of the Fleete came lagging on by ones and two's. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 32 Most of these Divans have large Windows. 1702 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 23 1167 Most of them are of an Aromatic Smell and Taste, but some are fœtid, virose, and fervid in their Taste. 1767 Jrnl. Voy. H.M.S. Dolphin 10 The most of the priests are negroes. 1796 E. Burke Let. to Noble Lord in Wks. (1815) VIII. 63 I looked over a number of fine portraits, most of them of persons now dead. 1852 G. W. Curtis Wanderer in Syria 161 We found a spot less dreary than the most. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 7 I found a number of persons, most of whom I knew. 1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights I. 45 The most of my patrons are boys. 1910 ‘W. Lawton’ Boy Aviators in Nicaragua 19 The taxi-cabby, like most of his kind, was not averse to making a tip. 1954 ‘D. Divine’ Golden Fool v. 47 It was a better brandy than the Cape Smoke most of them drank. 1993 Canad. Geographic May 76/1 Inuit hunters kill most of the bears, but about 15 percent are shot by sport hunters. C. adv. I. In the greatest degree, etc. 1. As a superlative of comparison: in the greatest degree; to the greatest extent. a. Modifying a verb, a prepositional phrase, or the whole predicate. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in the greatest degree or most mostOE heldesta1400 greatestc1400 mostly1580 largemosta1672 mostest1888 OE tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. ii. 22 Þara nytena meolc þe hy mæst bi libbað. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1118 Mæst hine dryfdon his agene mæn þe him gelome fram bugon, & swicon. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2595 & ȝho þatt cwemmde himm allre mæst. Off all mann kinn onn eorþe. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 99 (MED) It warð on eches muð wat mete se he mest luuede. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2336 (MED) Bot most of alle his herte is set..upon these grete Offices. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 5720 Whanne he most hath, most he failith. a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 24 For þat a man loueth most yn þys world, þat ys callet his god and his mawmet. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cvii^v He..thought it most for his honor & profite. a1555 D. Lindsay Tragedie in Dialog Experience & Courteour (1559) sig. Sv My hope was moste, in to the kyng of france. 1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine iii. i. 160 He loves not most that doth lament the most. c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 104 The Bishopp of Rochester..had occupied preachinge most at Pawles Crosse of any bishopp. 1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia 3 The soyle is most plentifull, sweete,..and fruitfull of all other. 1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 30 But Save me most from my Petitioners. Unsatiate as the barren Womb or Grave. 1723 Duke of Wharton True Briton No. 26. ¶14 Their most obliged Creatures have shunn'd them most. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. ii. 6 Nature and fortune..seem to have contended which should bless and enrich him most . View more context for this quotation a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 505 How guessed ye, Sir, what maist I wanted? 1810 S. Green Romance Readers I. xxi. 95 What now shocked me most of all was, that the character of my Ellen began to suffer. 1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 205 For most, I know, thou lov'st retired ground. 1882 T. Hardy Two on Tower I. x. 179 Of all phenomena that he had longed to witness during his short astronomical career, those appertaining to comets had excited him most. 1934 F. S. Fitzgerald Tender is Night i. xix. 106 Often a man can play the helpless child in front of a woman, but he can almost never bring it off when he feels most like a helpless child. 1985 D. Johnson Fiskadoro iii. 69 Mr. Cheung..loved her face most of all. 2000 Econ. & Philos. 16 95 They argue that among the standard dimensions, they should be evaluated by ones that happen to flatter them most. b. Modifying an adjective or adverb to form the superlative.With most adjectives and adverbs of more than one syllable, and with all those of more than two syllables, this is the normal mode of forming the superlative. A few monosyllables (e.g. real, right, wrong, just) normally form their superlatives in this way instead of taking the suffix -est. [Traces of periphrastic comparison are found in Old English in the use of betst or swiþost (but not mæst ) with participles and occasionally with adjectives. Periphrastic comparison of adjectives and adverbs with most (and for the comparative more : see more adj. 1c) is found from early Middle English, although only sporadically before the 14th cent. Unlike modern usage, in Middle English periphrastic comparison is more common with monosyllabic or disyllabic adjectives than with adjectives of three or more syllables, although it is less common than comparison with -est (or -er ) for adjectives of any length in Middle English; the development of the modern distribution is illustrated by the frequency with which formation of the comparison of adjectives with three or more syllables with -est rather than with most is criticized in 18th-cent. and later normative grammars. It is uncertain to what extent the emergence of periphrastic comparison in English was influenced by analogy with French comparison with plus and le plus or Latin comparison with magis and maxime ; confusion between and subsequent identity of form of most and superlatives in -most suffix (see note at that entry) may also have aided the process. See also -er suffix³, -est suffix.] ΚΠ c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 34 For þah he beo richest..þe alre measte poure þe him to were cheoseð is him wel icweme. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 23 (MED) Þet byeþ þe heȝe men and þet byeþ mest worþ. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 307 The moste principal of alle. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 37 This weye is most schort. a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 167 The mast north of thir four fludis is Euphrates,..and Nylus is the mast south. 1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie i. vii To conceiue and vnderstand, what is most semelie in everie circumsance, and to haue it fined, to the most ciuill vse. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 283 Hee had some warres..against the Christians, more vnnaturall against his brother, but most most vnnaturall and monstrous against his sonne Selym. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. i. 232 Ebbing men, indeed (Most often) do so neere the bottome run By their owne feare, or sloth. View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 146 The most sweete walke that ever I beheld. 1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. v. § i. 307 The Life of God carries in it the most perfect Spirituositie, as he is the most simple pure Spirit. 1725 T. Thomas in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS Comm.) VI. 122 One of the Kirks most Commodious for its largeness. 1768 A. Smith Theory Moral Sentiments iii. ii Vanity..is the foundation of the most ridiculous and contemptible vices. 1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) II. 112 The most amazing monument of the Roman power in England, is the praetenture, or wall of Severus. 1818 S. T. Coleridge Lett. (1895) II. 698 These lectures will be found by far the most interesting..of any that I have yet delivered. 1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist III. xxxix. 56 And the most noisome of the stews and dens of London. 1892 Bookman Oct. 27/2 The most dogged of fighters, the most dangerous of enemies. 1939 G. Greene Confidential Agent i. iv. 143 Her death was only the first, and perhaps the most horrible because she was alone: the others would die in company in underground shelters. 1987 A. Aronson Shakespeare & Rembrandt xi. 119 Psychological ambivalence is of the very essence of some of Rembrandt's most moving pictures. 1998 Zest July 69/1 Bang in the middle of Glasgow's most hip and happening quarter. c. Prefixed to the inflected superlative of an adjective. Cf. more adj. 1e. Now regional (chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern)) and humorous.This usage has been censured by grammarians from the 18th cent. onwards. ΚΠ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 81 (MED) Ynde is þe grettest and most richest [L. opulentior]. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 186 (MED) Þere scholde þei dwellen with the most fairest damyselles. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxxii[i]. 11 Is there knowlege in the most hyest? 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. E7^v The three battels..by him in his moste youngest yeares, so miraculouslie foughten. c1600 W. Fowler tr. N. Machiavelli Prince in Wks. (1936) II. 130 That was mast gretest and dangerous. 1683 W. Penn Let. Free Soc. Traders 6 One of the most wretchedst Spectacles in the World. 1704 J. Blair in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Colonial Church: Virginia (1870) I. 135 Aspersed with the most unsuitest imputations as if I had been raising sedition or rebellion. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones vi. vi. 266 He is the most handsomest, charmingest, finest, tallest, properest Man in the World. 1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xiii. 123 To be sure, they lie maist ewest. View more context for this quotation 1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. iv. vii. 68 I was always first in the most galliantest [sic] scrapes in my younger days! 1881 E. H. Hickey in Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 236 My most extremest time of misery. 1929 J. B. Philip Weelum o' Manse 26 That man gied the maist po'orfulest..prayer a iver h'ard. 1990 Games Rev. Jan. 35/2 The many Elementals..are perhaps the most best messengers of all. 2. As an intensive superlative modifying adjectives and adverbs: in the greatest possible degree, extremely, very.Frequently in ceremonial titles; for Most Christian, Honourable, Noble, Reverend, etc.: see the second element. ΚΠ 1387–8 Petition London Mercers in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 33 Moost noble & Worthiest Lordes, most ryghtful & wysest conseille to owre lige Lorde the Kyng. 1389 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 15 My maste swet & lowit thing. 1405 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 58 Mast excellent prince. 1508 W. Dunbar Ballade Barnard Stewart in Poems (1998) I. 177 Most wyse, most valyand, moste laureat hie wictour. 1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 42 §1 The Kynges mooste Riall Magestie. 1559 Abp. M. Parker Let. to Queen Elizabeth I June in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 70 I ought, and do, acknowledge my most bound duty, to be a faithful orator for your grace during my life. 1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. v. 80 O horrible, most horrible. c1631 T. Lunsford in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. IV. 205 To the King's most excellent Majesty. 1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 183 The rinde or skin peeles off most easily. 1688 Earl of Sunderland Let. 4 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. IV. 316 I am, S^r, your most affectionate friend and servant, Sunderland P. 1710 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1886) II. 351 A most vile, stinking Whigg. 1755 S. Johnson Let. 7 Feb. (1992) I. 97 I once boasted myself..Your Lordship's Most humble, most obedient Servant. 1790 W. Bligh Narr. Mutiny on Bounty 35 We should inevitably..have been thrown in sight of that coast: in which case there would most probably have been an end to our voyage. 1853 C. Dickens Let. 21 Sept. (1993) VII. 155 Ever..Most affectionately Yours. 1879 A. Bain Higher Eng. Gram. 150 His argument was most convincing. 1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow i. 17 The man was most amazingly a gentleman all the time, an aristocrat. 1984 M. Wharton Missing Will iv. 144 He..kept a single large blue file marked ‘Most Secret’ (the vulgar, ungrammatical, objectionable American ‘Top Secret’ had not yet been introduced). 1991 M. S. Power Come Executioner (1992) xiii. 137 What would he say if he knew that he..had received information that Parr would be interested, most interested, in a meet? II. For the most part (and related uses). 3. †a. Modifying all (occasionally each): mostly, for the most part. Obsolete.For uses where the word all precedes most see almost adv. 1.In this use the sense ‘for the most part’ passes into that of ‘nearly’. Cf. also sense A. 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adverb] > for or in the most part mosteOE almostOE mostwhata1200 generally1340 chiefly138. mostc1390 chiefa1556 mostly1563 substantially1638 prevalently1709 feckly1768 mostlings1808 eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. x. 106 He þa Scipia gemong þæm hie mæst ealle ofslog. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1105 He gewann of his broðer Caþum & Baius, & mæst ealle þa castelas & þa heafod men þær on lande him wurdon underþeodde. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1036 Mæst ealle þa þegenas benorðan Temese. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 181 (MED) Mast alle þe hund limen hersumieð þe onre wombe. a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 7 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 161 (MED) Mest [v.r. Mast] al þet ich habbe idon bi-fealt to child-hade. c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 100 (MED) Þe beoð..biset on vuele, as gentile wummon meast alle nu on worlde. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 48 Me seið up on ancren þet euch meast haueð an ald cwene to feden hire earen. b. Modifying the verb or predicate: mostly; for the most part, mainly. Now regional (chiefly Scottish and Caribbean). Sc. National Dict. (1965) records the sense as still in use in Shetland and north-eastern Scotland in 1962. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adverb] > for or in the most part mosteOE almostOE mostwhata1200 generally1340 chiefly138. mostc1390 chiefa1556 mostly1563 substantially1638 prevalently1709 feckly1768 mostlings1808 c1390 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 4033 Hir bord was serued moost with whit and blak. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2117 (MED) Þis land lies mast vnto þe south. c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 3 (MED) He cam to lerne dyuers sciens, whech were þan most in Greke tonge. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiii^v They vse moost to pull them [i.e. certain weeds] vp with theyr handes. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 598/1 Where kepeth he his resydence moste? 1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Dd1^v Although..States are most collected into Monarchies. View more context for this quotation 1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) i. ii. 72 Those that now inhabite Egypt, are most Moores. 1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 120 As to the Nature of the Inhabitants, they are most of a tawny Complexion. 1744 R. North & M. North Life Sir D. North & Rev. J. North 287 He took most to Silence,..yet, when he did speak, it was much to the Purpose. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian x, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 271 Peter Walker the packman, that your honour, I dare say, kens, for he uses maist partly the west-land of Scotland. 1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie xxxiii Though the hoose be fun't upo' a rock, it's maist biggit o'fells. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 72 Nae crummie noo, As in past time was seen maist. 1978 in A. W. Shilling Some Non-Standard Features Bahamian Dial. Syntax (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Hawaii) 146 Had to rain for get water most. 1996 in R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage at Most² Most you find he will come on Tuesdays. 4. Almost, nearly. a. Modifying a verb, prepositional phrase, or clause. Now regional (chiefly Scottish, Irish English (northern), U.S., and Caribbean). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > almost or nearly nigheOE well-nigheOE forneanc1000 well-nearc1175 almostc1261 nighwhatc1300 nearhandc1350 nigh handa1375 nigh handsa1375 as good asc1390 into (right) littlea1413 unto litea1420 nigh byc1430 nearbyc1485 near handsa1500 as near as1517 mosta1538 next door1542 wellmost1548 all but1590 anewst1590 uneath1590 next to1611 nearlya1616 thereaboutsa1616 welly1615 thereabout1664 within (an) ames-ace ofa1670 anear1675 pretty much1682 three parts1711 newsta1728 only not1779 partly1781 in all but name1824 just about1836 nentes1854 near1855 nar1859 just1860 not-quite1870 nearabouta1878 effectively1884 nigh on1887 the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > [adverb] > nearly (of amount) well-nigheOE nighOE well-nearc1175 almostc1261 nighwhatc1300 nara1400 neara1400 anighsta1425 muchwhata1513 wellmost1548 most1629 nighly1694 nearly1769 partly1781 mostly1805 most1808 mostlings1816 about1827 nearabouts1834 fairly1840 welly1859 approaching1951 a1538 A. Abell Roit or Quheill of Tyme f. 25^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mast(e The Romanis maist ourcume the wynge of the Scottis quhare the women myxt faucht with the men. ?1590–1 J. Burel Passage of Pilgremer i, in Poems sig. N His haist than, had maist than, Cost him ane winding sheit. 1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 541 Her forehead was most couered with her Hat. 1636 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae (Wreitton) 243 in Poems (1910) Sometime I musde, and most gone mad. 1742 G. Leoni Notes I. Jones in N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture (ed. 3) II. iv. 49/2 This Architrave returns the Cornice most to the solid of the Pilasters. 1775 in Essex Inst. Historical Coll. (1877) XIII. 198 It is so long since I saw, or heard direct from you that I most forgit you. 1786 R. Burns Poems 60 Ye..gied the infant warld a shog, 'Maist ruin'd a'. 1803 Port Folio 3 97 You know how it most makes you blind, in winter, to look on the snow. 1808 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 344 The distance of most three leagues. 1838 C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron xxvii. 189 I worked my fingers most to the bone for them pictures. 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting 151 You..wade out, most to the edge of the open water. 1887 A. W. Tourgée Button's Inn 327 Sometimes I 'most forgot him. 1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) 'Tis 'nough to make anybody urn away, most. 1901 S. Merwin & H. K. Webster Calumet ‘K’ i. 6 I 'most met my death climbing up just now. a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. iv. 87 The street girls..they 'most starve. 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. i. 26 He moved by jerks, and he had most no tail. b. Chiefly North American. Modifying certain universal and non-assertive determiners and pronouns, as all, any, every, anyone, everything, etc., and corresponding adverbs of time and place, as always, anywhere, everywhere.Quot. 1629 appears to be an isolated early use unconnected to the main American development of the sense; cf. also sense A. 3a. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > [adverb] > nearly (of amount) well-nigheOE nighOE well-nearc1175 almostc1261 nighwhatc1300 nara1400 neara1400 anighsta1425 muchwhata1513 wellmost1548 most1629 nighly1694 nearly1769 partly1781 mostly1805 most1808 mostlings1816 about1827 nearabouts1834 fairly1840 welly1859 approaching1951 1629 W. Sclater Briefe Expos. 2 Thess. (ed. 2) iii. 275 Wee are most all [1627 mostly all] of Issachars Tribe: therefore vsually choose callings of greatest ease. 1770 G. Washington Diary 25 Aug. (1925) I. 395 As the Tassels of most all the Corn..was entirely dry. 1775 J. Andrews Let. 11 Apr. in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1866) 8 403 I think it exceeds most every thing of the kind. 1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing, Major iii. 35 Most all these southern folks are good fellows. 1854 J. E. Cooke Virginia Comedians I. viii. 50 ‘Never argues with women!’ adds Kate, ‘as if he was not arguing with me all the time 'most!’ 1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxv. 239 Most everybody's here. 1888 10th Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1887–8 49 You are more sure of a good butter in this cow breed than in most any other. 1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous i. 5 She's 'most always sick on the ocean. 1901 S. Merwin & H. K. Webster Calumet ‘K’ i. 5 That's most all we've been doing for ten days. 1926 Publishers' Weekly 10 July 117 Most any bookbinder will be glad to tell you all about du Pont Fabrikoid. 1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 190/1 Most, almost, nearly. We most always go. 1956 Rev. Sci. Instruments 27 961/2 If K > 1, which is most always the case, then [etc.]. 1968 Wall St. Jrnl. 28 Feb. 16/1 In most any organization, the man who succeeds a reformer faces the task of consolidating the reforms while smoothing feathers the reformer has ruffled. 1968 Amer. Notes & Queries Mar. 108/1 A book which touches most all of the high spots for the jet set. 1988 A. Lurie Truth about Lorin Jones 125 Most everyone had short bouncy curls. 1992 Century Home Feb.–Mar. 49/1 Penny and Roger painted most every room white. Compounds In sense C. 1b, forming adjectival phrases used attributively in compounds or as compound nouns. most active list n. (also with capital initials) Stock Market a list of the securities experiencing the highest volume of trading in a given period (usually a day); cf. active list n. (b) at active adj. and n. Compounds 2.In quot. 1885 the securities comprising such a list. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > collection or list of portfolio1848 active list1857 most active list1885 listing1909 investment portfolio1912 society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > types of redeemables1720 government bond1737 corporate bond1810 trustee security1859 international1863 foreigners1883 most active list1885 gilt-edge1900 actual1908 heavies1922 toxic waste1922 gilt-edged1930 prior charge1930 short1932 gilt1936 performer1939 tap1948 energy security1960 fallen angel1963 medium1968 physicals1974 underperformer1975 taplet1982 1885 Los Angeles Times 7 Mar. The market..continued strong until between 1 and 2 o'clock.., the gains at that time being between 1 and 2 per cent for the most active list. 1890 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 11 May 12/4 Atchison..was bought for Boston, and was on the most active list. 1967 Univ. Pennsylvania Law Rev. 115 692 We..have always had an interest in the Most Active List, which usually gives a day-to-day closeup of current trends. 2008 A. J. Monte & R. Swope Market Guys' Five Points for Trading Success viii. 166 Be aware that a stock may hit the most active list for any variety of reasons, good or bad. most significant adj. (in computing and numerical analysis) designating the digit in a number (which may be an address in a computer instruction) having the greatest value, that is, the leftmost digit of a number as conventionally written; (also) the byte in a binary number which has the greatest value. ΚΠ 1951 M. V. Wilkes et al. Prepar. Programs for Electronic Digital Computer i. i. 3 Negative numbers are represented inside the machine by their true complements and the most significant digit of any number is treated in the arithmetical unit as a sign digit. 1987 J. Millman & A. Grabel Microelectronics (ed. 2) vi. 209 The leftmost bit, representing the place value of the highest power of 2, is the most-significant bit (MSB). 1993 D. Libes Obfuscated C & Other Myst. 117 The most significant byte is stored at the same address as the integer on the 680x0 family. most valuable player n. (also most valued player) Sport (originally Baseball and chiefly North American) the best or most successful player of a team during a season, series, or single match; frequently attributive (usually with capital initials), of an award given to such a player; also abbreviated as MVP (see M n. Initialisms 1). ΚΠ 1891 Lima (Ohio) Daily News 23 July [He] is the most valuable player on the diamond today. 1912 Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News 10 Oct. 1/1 Speaker, the Boston idol, was presented with an automobile, the award going to the most valued player in the American League. 1954 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 23 229/2 Roy Campanella, catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, was named Most Valuable Player in the National League for 1953. 1966 M. J. Shapiro Year they won Most Valuable Player Award 9 The very beginnings of the Most Valuable Player awards had in their creation the inclusion of intangibles that could never have precise measurement. 2000 N.Y. Times 12 Nov. viii. 7/5 Patrick Ewing was then regarded as one of the most dominant players in the N.B.A.—an annual most valuable player candidate. most wanted adj. and n. (a) adj. (attributive), designating a person or thing most eagerly sought after, esp. in connection with serious criminal offences; (b) n. such a person or thing. ΚΠ 1949 Washington Daily News 7 Feb. 22/1 The FBI today listed 10 men as the most-wanted fugitives now at large. They are two accused murderers, four escaped convicts, a bank robber and three confidence men. 1985 T. O'Brien Nucl. Age xii. 277 We spent two days making the rounds of every school in the city. Sarah complained that it was too much like FBI work, like tracking down Most Wanteds. 1994 Air & Space Technol. Nov. 17/2 As for his other most-wanteds, if anyone out there has a Martin Mars flying boat, a Ford Tri-motor, or a Douglas DC-2, don't be surprised if a genial bespectacled man with a camera sidles up to you one day [etc]. 2000 N.Y. Times 22 Oct. iv. 15 (advt.) Castro's ‘Most Wanted’ new project—A Cuban Nuclear Plant just like Chernobyl in Russia. most wanted list n. a list of persons or things most eagerly sought after; spec. a list of fugitives sought in connection with serious criminal offences. ΚΠ 1930 Pacific Affairs 3 490 The surrender of Samoans previously on the Administration's ‘wanted’ list had proceeded steadily and peacefully, and the jails were already reported full.] 1951 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 23 June 4/2 (heading) Spurned lover turns killer makes ‘Most-Wanted’ List. 1998 Chicago Tribune 15 Mar. i. 11/1 Congress, which asked for Morrison's study, left the task to a collection of lesser-financed international organizations that are slowly compiling a celestial ‘most wanted’ list. 2001 Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 31 Jan. For years, the pair had the dubious distinction of holding down a top-ten position on the ‘most wanted’ list of fugitives published by the FBI. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). > see also also refers to : -mostsuffix > as lemmas MOST MOST n. [after MOS n.] Electronics metal-oxide-semiconductor (or -silicon) transistor. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > solid state physics > semiconductivity > transistor > [noun] > field-effect transistor field-effect transistor1952 MOST1965 1965 Wireless World Sept. 425/2 The cathode and anode being in the positions of the source and drain of the M.O.S.T. respectively. 1967 J. Millman & C. Halkias Electronic Devices & Circuits xiv. 384 There are two types of field-effect transistors, the junction field-effect transistor (abbreviated JFET, or simply FET) and the insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET), more commonly called the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor (MOST or MOSFET). 1992 Microelectronics Jrnl. 23 490/3 In Figure 3 a MOST (metal-oxide-silicon transistor) is shown. extracted from Mn. < adj.pron.n.adv.eOE see also as lemmas
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mostadj.pron.n.adv.

Compounds

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