best

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English best, early also betste and bezste,^[2][3] inherited from Old English betst, also betest,^[4][5][6][7] from Proto-Germanic *batistaz,^[8][9][1] the superlative of the base *bat-.^[8][9][3] Old English betst was simplified to best, a form already found now and then in late West Saxon,^[4][3] and similar forms arose independently in other Germanic languages.^[4][3] It is cognate with Old Frisian best, Old Saxon betst, Middle Dutch best, Old High German bezzisto, German best, Old Norse beztr and Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists).^[4][8][3] From the same base, the OED says, come better and, with a different grade of the vowel, boot in the sense "advantage",^[4][9][8] and Klein adds batten.^[10] The OED finds no further etymology;^[4] the American Heritage Dictionary refers it to Proto-Indo-European *bhad-,^[7] Köbler compares the same root, meaning "good",^[11] and Klein names Avestan hubadra- (“lucky”) as possibly cognate.^[10] In English, as in other Germanic languages, it serves as the superlative of good and well, which have no regular superlative of their own.^[4][8][3] The noun comes from the adjective used absolutely.^[3][8][5] The verb "to get the better of" is a conversion of the adjective, after better, with the earlier worst as a parallel,^[4][5] and the verb meaning "should" is short for the phrase “had best”.^[4][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the highest excellence, surpassing all others: in Old English, about 725 in Barnhart's date for Beowulf, which is also the OED's first quotation.^[3][4] Dictionary.com says only "before 900" and Merriam-Webster Unabridged "before the 12th century".^[13][12]

Semantic evolution

Old English already used it of things and of people, of people of the highest rank, of what is most advantageous or suitable, and for the largest part of something; the Shorter Oxford dates this last use only to the mid-16th century.^[4][5] Before 1500 it could also be said impersonally, with a dative, of what would be best for someone to do;^[4] later constructions are he were best (1485) and he had best (1559).^[4] In English dialects, from Lancashire to Hampshire, it was used for the comparative.^[14] The noun meant "that which is best" from before 1175 in Barnhart and about 1200 in Etymonline,^[3][8] "all that one can do" from about 1300,^[8] and "the highest possible state" from the 1570s.^[8] Weekley points out that do one's best was once equivalent to do one's worst, and quotes the Coventry Leet Book of 1509.^[15] In set phrases, at best is from the early 14th century and for the best from the late 14th, best friend is in Chaucer, make the best of is from the 1620s, and the 1640s gave get the best of.^[8] Johnson (1755) gives "most good".^[16] Best man, originally Scottish, is recorded from 1814, and gradually displaced groomsman and brideman.^[8][9][15] Best girl is American by 1881,^[8] and best boy for a sweetheart followed by 1893 on its model.^[17] The verb was general in English and Scots dialect at the end of the 19th century, of beating someone in a game or argument.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 725 – of the highest excellence, in Beowulf.^[3][4]
• 891 – of a person, surpassing all others, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^[4]
• before 1175 – noun, that which is best.^[3] Etymonline dates it to about 1200.^[8]
• before 1200 – the reduced Middle English form best or beste, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[3]
• c. 1300 – noun, all that one can do.^[8]
• early 14th century – at best.^[8]
• late 14th century – for the best and best friend, the latter in Chaucer.^[8]
• c. 1534 – of an effort, showing one's highest level of application.^[4]
• 1559 – had best, with a following infinitive.^[4]
• 1570s – noun, the highest possible state.^[8]
• 1663 – of a room, reserved for special occasions.^[4]
• 1790 – noun, best clothes.^[8]
• 1814 – best man.^[8]
• 1839 – verb, to get the better of.^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1837, and Etymonline and Barnhart to 1863.^[12][8][3]
• 1881 – best girl, a sweetheart, in American English.^[8]
• 1889 – best-seller.^[8]
• 1900 – verb, short for had best.^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1897.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. The superlative of good; of the highest quality, surpassing all others: the best singer in the choir.^[18][12][4]
2. Most suitable or advantageous: the best way to reach the coast.^[18][4][5]
3. Largest; most, in the best part of: We waited the best part of a week.^[18][4][5]
4. Of the highest social standing: the best families in town.^[12][4]
5. Of a room, furnished well and kept for special occasions: the best room.^[4]
6. Showing one's greatest effort: her best attempt so far.^[4]

Adverb

1. The superlative of well; in the most excellent or suitable way: He plays best under pressure.^[18][12]
2. To the highest degree; most, often in compounds: her best-loved poem.^[18][12]

Noun

1. The person or thing that is best, or those who are best: Only the best will be chosen.^[12][5]
2. One's finest state or condition: The team was at its best in the final.^[12][5]
3. All that one can do; one's utmost: Try your best.^[12][8]
4. One's best performance so far, especially in sport: a new personal best.^[5][12]
5. One's best clothes: dressed in their best.^[5][8]

Verb

1. To get the better of; to defeat or outdo: She bested her rival in the last round.^[12][4][5]
2. Had best; should, not often in formal use: You best call them before noon.^[12][4]

Word family

• bestseller
• best-case
• best boy
• best man
• second best

Related words

• better
• boot
• batten

Usage notes

The OED has an unrelated Best, in the genitive and attributively, for a staining technique named after the German pathologist Franz Best (1878–1920), who described it in 1906.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
14. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
18. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins