A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1699
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1]
Almast, Almaist, adv. Also: allmast, -maist; almeist, almest. Cf. Amast. [Northern ME. almaste (southern almoste), OE. æl-, ealmǽst.]
1. Nearly, approximately; almost. Almast. … nocht, barely, scarcely. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace vi. 420.
For sorow almaist a word he mycht nocht spek c1475 Ib. xi. 1215.
In this mater prolixit I am almaist a1500 Taill of Rauf Coilȝear 652.
Thay countit not the Coilȝear almaist at regaird a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 1574.
Hir moder … fand hir douchter deid allmast 1533 Bell. Livy II. 161/12.
Thus had al the romane tentis almaist bene replete of seditioun vrbane 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 1/10.
Al the … affligit pepil, quhilkis ar al mast disparit of mennis supple 1570 Satirical Poems x. 379.
‘Get vp’, quod thay, ‘it is almaist midnycht’ a1578 Pitsc. I. 20/17.
Persaweand that thair was na plaice almeist to be reconceilled with his onfreindis 1596 Dalr. I. 4/27.
The Ile almaist is thrie nuiket 16.. Exchequer Rolls I. 51.
In evrie schyre almest the king had castellis
2. Almost all. 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. ii. 31.
Thair instrumentis all maist war fidillis lang
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Almast adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/almast>
