alderliefest

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*lewbʰ-“to admire, praise; to covet, desire; to love”
2. Old English · inherited fromlēof“beloved, dear”
3. Middle English · inherited fromalderlevest“dearest of all”
4. English todayalderliefest

From Middle English alderlevest (“dearest of all”), from alder- (“of all, very”, prefix forming the superlative of adjectives or adverbs) (the genitive plural of al (“all, entirely, utterly, very”)) + lefest, levest (“dearest, most beloved”) (from lef, leve (“beloved or dear to someone”) (from Old English lēof (“beloved, dear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to admire, praise; to covet, desire; to love”)) + -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs)). The English word is analysable as alder- ((archaic) prefix meaning ‘having the greatest degree of something, of all’) + lief (“(archaic) beloved, dear”, adjective) + -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs). Cognates * Dutch allerliefst * German allerliebst

Words from the same roots