Etymologically
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worst

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /wɜːst/, US /wɝːst/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English werste, worste,[2][3] inherited from Old English wyrresta, wierresta,[4][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz,[3] a superlative formed with the suffix of -est on the root of worse.[4][2] Its cognates include Old Frisian wersta, Old Saxon wirsista, Old High German wirsisto and Old Norse verstr.[4][3][6] Etymonline takes the root to Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“to confuse, mix up”), the source of war.[3] The adverb is Old English wyrst, the superlative of wyrs “worse”,[4][2] and the noun and the verb are from the adjective.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English wyrresta is found before 899, in the writings of Alfred;[4] the OED's first example, “most grievous, most unfavourable”, is from about 825.[7] In oldest use it meant “most evil, wicked or sinful”.[3]

Semantic evolution

By the late 12th century it also meant “most inferior in quality or value”.[3] The noun, “that which is worst”, is from about 1200,[3] about 1385 in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.[4] Worst enemy is from the late 14th century,[3] to do one's worst from the late 15th century,[3] and if worst comes to worst by the 1590s.[3] The verb first meant “to make worse, damage”, from 1602,[4][7] and “to defeat, get the better of” from the 1630s.[3][7] In the worst way, “very much”, is American, from 1839,[3][7] and worst-case is from 1964.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – most grievous.[7]
  • before 899 – Old English wyrresta.[4]
  • c. 1200 – noun, that which is worst.[3]
  • late 14th century – worst enemy.[3]
  • 1590s – if worst comes to worst.[3]
  • 1602 – verb, to damage.[4][7]
  • 1636 – verb, to defeat.[7]
  • 1839 – in the worst way.[3][7]
  • 1964 – worst-case.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Most bad: of the lowest quality, or the most unpleasant, severe or harmful, as the superlative of bad and ill.
  2. Least suitable or desirable.

Adverb

  1. In the worst way; most badly.
  2. To the greatest degree: the worst affected.

Noun

  1. The worst person, thing or state: the worst is over.

Verb

  1. (dated) To get the better of; to defeat.

Word family

  • worst-case

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press