most

Forms

most^[1] Old and dialect forms include mast, mostan, mostég and moszt.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a fixed case form, from Hungarian ma + -st: the old adverb, which then still meant “now”, with the suffix group -st in an emphatic function, as in örömest and egyenest.^[2][3][4][1] TESz describes the word as a stressed, emphatic form of the adverb, and thinks it was probably its rise that pushed the older sense “now” of the base into the background, leaving it the sense “today”.^[2] An earlier derivation from a locative form ⟨*mol⟩ of the stem shared by the adverb and más is rejected.^[2]

The variant mostan adds the suffix -n, here in a temporal function, as in majdan; the dialect endings /d/, /g/ and /k/ (mostand, mostanég, mostanék) are emphatic elements, as in itt and ott.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Munich Codex, a text translated after 1416 and copied in 1466: moſt, with the sense “at this time, now”.^[2][3] The Munich Codex word list records it in Matthew 26:65.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense “now” has been the main one throughout.^[2][3] A narrower sense, “just, just now”, appears in 1490 in a Latin–Hungarian glossary, and the paired most … most “now … now, at one time … at another” in 1664.^[2][3] The derivatives mostani “present”, mostanában “lately, these days” and mostanság are all recorded around 1500.^[2][3][4]

Transylvanian records of the 16th–18th centuries show most for the very moment, for the present time, and in akkor is, most is “then as now”.^[6] In the dialects it also means “a moment ago”, and most a múlt héten is “just last week”.^[7][8][9]

Timeline

• after 1416 (copy of 1466) – moſt in the Munich Codex.^[2][3]
• 1490 – the sense “just, just now”, in a glossary.^[2]
• about 1493 – mast, mastan and mastany (modern mostani) in the Festetics Codex.^[2]
• 1510 – mostanában “lately”.^[2][3]
• about 1519 – mostanság “nowadays”, in the Debrecen Codex.^[3]
• 1604 – Szenczi Molnár glosses it with Latin nunc and modo.^[10]
• 1664 – most … most “now … now”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. now: at the time of speaking, often contrasted with the past or the future.^[11][1]
2. At this very moment: Most nem érek rá.^[11]
3. These days, at present.^[11]
4. On this occasion, in the present situation.^[11]
5. A moment ago, just now.^[11][7]
6. In a moment, immediately.^[11]
7. (literary) most … most: now … now, at one time … at another.^[11][2]

Related words

• ma
• mostan
• mostani
• mostanában

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 963
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
4. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
5. ^ Szabó T., Ádám (ed.) (1985), A Müncheni Kódex szókincse (Der Wortschatz des Münchener Kodex), with the text of the Müncheni Kódex 1466 ed. Antal Nyíri and Gyula Décsy, Budapest
6. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 9, 378
7. ^ a b Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság
8. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
9. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
10. ^ Szarvas, Gábor; Simonyi, Zsigmond (1890–1893), Magyar nyelvtörténeti szótár, 3 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 2, 879
11. ^ a b c d e f g Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu