-est

• (UK, US) enPR: ĭst, IPA^(key): /ɪst/
• (General Australian) enPR: əst, IPA^(key): /əst/

From Old English -st, from Proto-Germanic *-istaz, *-ōstaz, related to comparative -er. Cognate of Dutch -st, German -(e)st, Danish -(e)st, Swedish -(a)st.

-est

1. Used to form the superlative of adjectives and adverbs.

   longest, biggest, fastest

• See -er for notes on the usage of this suffix to form superlatives.
• Occasionally, the -est suffix is added to a verbal adjective as a substitute for most. An example is winningest.

• -er

• -most

From Middle English -est, -st, from Old English -est, -ast, -st, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *-zi, from Proto-Indo-European *-si. The -t was by transfer from inverted order where thou followed the verb, which also occurred in most dialects of Middle Dutch and Middle High German (compare modern German -st).

-est

1. (archaic) Used to form the second-person singular present tense and past tense of verbs.

   goest, makest, wentest, madest

• -st

• -eth
• thou

• ETS, ETs, Set, StE, Ste, Ste., TEs, TSE, Tse, set, seṭ, tse

-es (“adjective-forming suffix”) + -t (“adverbial suffix”)

• IPA^(key): [ɛʃt]

-est

1. (adverbial suffix) Forms an adverb.

• Harmonic variants:

  -st

  -est

  öröm (“joy”) → örömest (“with joy”)

• -ost
• -ust

From Proto-Germanic *-ust-.

-est f

1. suffix forming feminine nouns, originally from verbs

   eornost (“earnest”)

   þēnest (“service”)

   ofost (“haste”)

   orrest (“battle, combat”)