English

best

/bɛst/
Most; largest.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).

    Etymology 2

    Shortening of had best

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • suffixEnglish-y “Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving…”
      • inheritedMiddle English-y
        • derivedMiddle English-ie
        • inheritedOld English-iġ
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*-ōn
    • inheritedMiddle Englishbest
      • inheritedOld Englishbezt
        • inheritedProto-Germanic*batistaz

    Related: Scots best, Cimbrian peste, Dutch best, German beste, Yiddish בעסט, Danish bedst, Faroese bestur, Icelandic bestur, nb,nn best, Swedish bäst, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃

    Words built on it: best friend, level best

    Sources