Almost
adverbVery nearly but not completely or entirely.
How to spell almost
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce almost
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does almost mean?
- adverbVery nearly but not completely or entirely.
Almost in a sentence
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I've almost finished my work.
-
I almost missed the train this morning.
Where does almost come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word comes straight from Old English, where it appeared as ealmæst, a compound of eall, meaning 'all' or 'wholly', and mæst, meaning 'most' or 'greatest'. The original idea was 'mostly all' or 'for the greatest part', which softened over time into the modern sense of 'very nearly but not quite'. Both halves are native Germanic words that have been in English since before the year 1000, and they survive separately today as 'all' and 'most'. The single 'l' often trips writers up, because the standalone word 'all' has two; in 'almost', the doubled letter was reduced as the compound fused into one word. Knowing that it began as 'all' plus 'most' explains both its meaning and its spelling.
How the word is built
- al- (from eall: all, wholly)
- most (greatest in degree)
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