The story
- Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*néwisth₂os
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*niwistaz
- Old English · inherited fromnīwost
- Middle English · inherited fromnewest
- English todaynewest
From Middle English newest, from Old English nīwost, from Proto-Germanic *niwistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *néwisth₂os, superlative of *néwos/*néwyos (whence new). Cognate with Scots newest, Dutch nieuwst, German neueste, neuste, Icelandic nýjastur, Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (niujists), Ashkun nustári (“before”), Kamkata-viri nüštë́ř (“before”), Waigali nüst (“before”), Vedic Sanskrit नविष्ठ (náviṣṭha).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.