most

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mōst, IPA^(key): /ˈməʊst/
• (General American) enPR: mōst, IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊst

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

most

1. superlative degree of much.

   The teams competed to see who could collect the most money.

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

   The team with the most points wins.

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

   Most bakers and dairy farmers have to get up early.

   Winning was not important for most participants.

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

most (not comparable)

1. Forms the superlative of many adjectives.

   Antonym: least

   This is the most important example.

   Correctness is most important.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎:

     “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes […] . And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]”

2. To a great extent or degree; highly; very.

   This is a most unusual specimen.

   • 1750, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music), “'Theodora'”‎:

     Most cruel edict! Sure, thy generous soul, Septimius, abhors the dreadful task of persecution.

   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

     Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.

3. superlative form of many: most many
4. superlative form of much: most much

   Antonym: least

   • 2013 August 3, “Boundary Problems”, in The Economist‎, volume 408, number 8847:

     Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.

• more

most

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

   Most want the best for their children.

   The peach was juicier and more flavourful than most.

• (greater part): the majority

most (usually uncountable, plural mosts)

1. (uncountable) The greatest amount.

   The most I can offer for the house is $150,000.

2. (countable, uncountable) The greater part.

   Most of the penguins were friendly and curious.

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

     At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess‎:

     The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. […] The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.

   • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

     Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

   Most of the rice was spoiled.

3. (countable) A record-setting amount.
   • 2001, George Barna, Real Teens: A Contemporary Snapshot of Youth Culture, →ISBN, page 15:

     Along with their massive size will come other “mosts”: they will likely be the longest living, the best educated, the wealthiest and the most wired/ wireless.

   • 2002, John Gregory Selby, Virginians at War: The Civil War Experiences of Seven Young Confederates, →ISBN, page xvii:

     Virginia had a number of "mosts” that made it appealing, if not representative of all Confederate states: the most citizens among the Southern states; the most slaves; the most men under arms; the most famous Southern generals; the most fighting within its borders; the most divided by the war (what other Southern state lost a quarter of its territory and saw a new state created out of that former territory?); and the most damaged by the war.

   • 2007, Joe Moscheo, The Gospel Side of Elvis, →ISBN:

     The record of Elvis' achievement is truly remarkable; his list of “firsts” and “mosts” is probably without parallel in music and entertainment history.

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

Reduction of almost.

most (not comparable)

1. (informal, chiefly US) Almost.
   • 2000, Jewish Baltimore: A Family Album ISBN 0801864275, page 159:

     "We walked there most every day after school."

   • 2011, Charlotte Maclay, Wanted: A Dad to Brag About ISBN 1459274989:

     “Can't be all that bad if Luke likes it. Most everywhere has air-conditioning, he says.”

• most at OneLook Dictionary Search

• MOTs, MTSO, TMOs, Toms, mots, toms

From Latin mustum.

most m (plural mosts or mostos)

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

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

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

• IPA^(key): /most/

• audio

  (file)

most m inan

1. bridge

• můstek
• mostní
• mostový
• přemostit

• lávka

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

From Latin mustum.

• IPA^(key): /mɔst/
• Rhymes: -ɔst

most m (uncountable, diminutive mostje n)

1. must (unfermented or partially fermented mashed grapes or rarely other fruits, an early stage in the production of wine)

From Latin mustum.

most m (plural mosts)

1. must (unfermented grape juice or wine)

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

• IPA^(key): [ˈmoʃt]

• Audio

  (file)

most

1. now

• mostan
• mostanság

most m (diminutive mosćik)

1. Superseded spelling of móst.

From Middle Low German most, must, from Latin mustum

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

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

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

From Middle Low German most, must, from Latin mustum

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

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

• “most” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin mustum.

most m

1. must

• German: Most

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

• IPA^(key): /mɔst/

• most

  (file)

most m inan

1. bridge (building over a river or valley)

• most in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

• IPA^(key): /môːst/

mȏst m (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ст)

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

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔst/

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

1. bridge

• mostík
• mostný
• mostový

• most in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

From Proto-Slavic *mostъ (“bridge”)

• IPA^(key): /móːst/

mọ̑st m inan

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

most (plural mosts)

1. monster