utmost

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*úd“out, outward”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ūt“out, outward”
3. Old English · inherited fromūtmest
4. Middle English · inherited fromutmost
5. English todayutmost

PIE word *úd From Middle English utmost, utemest [and other forms], from Old English ūtmest, ūtemest [and other forms], from ūt, ūte (“out; outdoors, outside”) + -mest (suffix meaning ‘furthest’, used to form superlatives of some adjectives) (and conflated with most). Ūt is derived from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out, outward”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“out, outward”). Equivalent to out + -most.

Words from the same roots