The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂elnós
- Proto-Germanic*allaz
- Proto-Germanic*ala-
- Proto-West Germanic*ala-
- Old Englishæl-
- Proto-Indo-European*meh₂-
- Proto-Germanic*maiz
- Proto-Germanic*maistaz
- Proto-Germanic*maist
- Proto-West Germanic*maist
- Old Englishmǣst
- Old Englisheallmǣst
- Middle Englishalmost
- English todayalmost
From Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + most.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.