most

Etymology 1

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

det

1. superlative degree of much.
   The teams competed to see who could collect (the) most money.
2. superlative degree of many: the comparatively largest number of (construed with the definite article)
   The team with the most points wins.
3. superlative degree of many: the majority of; more than half of (construed without the definite article)
   Most bakers and dairy farmers have to get up early.
   Winning was not important for most participants.

adv

1. Forms the superlative of many adjectives.
   This is the most important example.
   Correctness is most important.
   “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes[…]. And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]” 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
2. To a great extent or degree; highly; very.
   This is a most unusual specimen.
   Most cruel edict! Sure, thy generous soul, Septimius, abhors the dreadful task of persecution. 1750, “Theodora”, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music)
   “His song is most unpleasant,” said the King rubbing his head, “pray bid him cease,” and off went the secretary to argue with the wind. 1922, Ruth Plumly Thompson, “The Last Giant”, in The Princess of Cozytown, P. F. Volland, page 80
3. superlative degree of many
   Most times when I go hiking I wear boots.
4. superlative degree of much
   Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. 2013-08-03, “Boundary Problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

adj

1. (slang, dated) The greatest; the best.
   PATTY:They announced this year's nominees for student council. And guess who's up for vice-president? Me! Isn't that the most to say the least? 1978-09-14, Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, Bronte Woodard, directed by Randal Kleiser, Grease (film), spoken by Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner)

pron

1. The greater part of a group, especially a group of people.
   Most want the best for their children.
   The peach was juicier and more flavourful than most.

noun

1. (uncountable) The greatest amount.
   The most I can offer for the house is $150,000.
2. (countable, uncountable) The greater part.
   Most of the penguins were friendly and curious.
   Most of the rice was spoiled.
   Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys. 2013-08-16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8
3. (countable) A record-setting amount.
   Along with their massive size will come other “mosts”: they will likely be the longest living, the best educated, the wealthiest and the most wired/ wireless. 2001, George Barna, Real Teens: A Contemporary Snapshot of Youth Culture, page 15
   Virginia had a number of "mosts” that made it appealing, if not representative of all Confederate states: the most citizens among the Southern states; the most slaves; the most men under arms; the most famous Southern generals; the most fighting within its borders; the most divided by the war (what other Southern state lost a quarter of its territory and saw a new state created out of that former territory?); and the most damaged by the war. 2002, John Gregory Selby, Virginians at War: The Civil War Experiences of Seven Young Confederates, page xvii
   The record of Elvis' achievement is truly remarkable; his list of “firsts” and “mosts” is probably without parallel in music and entertainment history. 2007, Joe Moscheo, The Gospel Side of Elvis

Etymology 2

Reduction of almost.

adv

1. (informal, chiefly US) Almost.
   A well-daiquiried redhead eyed him from across the room at Jilly's one night in 1963 — although it could have been most any night ever […] 1998, Bill Zehme, The Way You Wear Your Hat: And the Lost Art of Livin' (page 181)
   We walked there most every day after school. 2000, Jewish Baltimore: A Family Album, page 159
   “Can't be all that bad if Luke likes it. Most everywhere has air-conditioning, he says.” 2011, Charlotte Maclay, Wanted: A Dad to Brag About