almost

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled a’most

US /ˈɔː(l)məs/ UK /ˈɔːl.məʊst/ See IPA manual

adv noun Freq #467

Meanings

1

adv
Very nearly, but not completely.

Almost everyone in the class passed the exam.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · very nearly, but not... nearly practically virtually well-nigh

More fornighnighwhat

Opposites

mostly slightly somewhat very

Word family

Derived forms almostness

Related forms approximately

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós Proto-Germanic *allaz Proto-Germanic *ala- Proto-West Germanic *ala- Old English æl- Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *maiz Proto-Germanic *maistaz Proto-Germanic *maist Proto-West Germanic *maist Old English mǣst Old English eallmǣst Middle English almost English almost From Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + most.

almost Middle English eallmǣst Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# almost

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adv, noun
**IPA (US):** ˈɔː(l)məs
**IPA (UK):** ˈɔːl.məʊst
**Frequency rank:** 467

## Meanings
1. Very nearly, but not completely.

## Examples
- Almost everyone in the class passed the exam.

## Synonyms
- fornigh
- nighwhat

## Antonyms
- mostly
- slightly
- somewhat
- very

## Derived Forms
- almostness

## Related Forms
- approximately

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: almost
- Root: eallmǣst

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós Proto-Germanic *allaz Proto-Germanic *ala- Proto-West Germanic *ala- Old English æl- Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *maiz Proto-Germanic *maistaz Proto-Germanic *maist Proto-West Germanic *maist Old English mǣst Old English eallmǣst Middle English almost English almost From Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + most.

## AI Etymology
Almost is from Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) plus most. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as an adverb, almost denotes very nearly, but not completely. The same word family continues in derived forms such as almostness and related entries such as approximately.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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