Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MAIST, adj., adv.¹, n. Also maest (Sc. 1834 G. R. Gleig Allan Breck III. xi.), meast (Lnk. 1707 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 7). Gen.Sc. forms and usages of Eng. most (Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 130, Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 153; Ayr. 1788 Burns There's a youth iv.). See P.L.D. § 32. [mest, mɛst]

I. adj. Chief, principal; most powerful (Ayr., Rxb. 1962). Adv. maist han, in greatest measure, almost entirely, nearly (Sh., ne.Sc. 1962). Phr. the maist penny, see 1887 quot.Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shep. MS. 122:
But can ye now of her nae cuttance gie Or where about her maist resort may be?Rnf. 1835 D. Webster Rhymes 4:
But the maist thing that troubled the bodies, I think was their hungry wames.Abd. 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer i. xii.:
Weel, ye see, I hae been thinkin' o' a plan for maist han' toomin' hell.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 27:
The maist mester-fiend o' a storm o' wind . . . blew ower a' the brakan' isles o' Orkney.Sc. 1887 Jam.:
The maist penny, the most money, highest price, best advantage. To sell an article for the maist penny is to sell it at its highest market price, or to the highest bidder. To mak the maist penny of an article was also used in the same sense.

II. adv.

Sc. form of Eng. most.ne.Sc. 1952 John R. Allan North-East Lowlands of Scotland (1974) 187:
"She was a woman of the maist wonderfu power. ... "Edb. 1991 J. K. Annand in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 20:
Aneath a hap o snaw it derns
Deep in a dwam for maist the year
To burst throu in a bleeze o starns
Syne skail its flourish on the stour.wm.Sc. 1991 James Russell Grant in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 55:
Bairn ae a street bringin back bairnhood days
Mither deckin ye oot in white an blue
Yirsel a soulfu wee craitur maist happy whiles

Sc. usages:

1. Used redundantly with superlatives (Abd. 1903 E.D.D.; Sh., Cai., ne.Sc., em.Sc.(a), Slk. 1962).Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley xlii.:
The Baron shall return . . . and unite Killancureit's lairdship with his own . . . “To be sure, they lie maist ewest”, said the Bailie . . . “and should naturally fa' under the same factory”.Ayr. 1822 Galt Entail viii.:
Will it no be the most hardest thing that ever was seen in the world for Charlie no to inherit the breadth o' the blade of a cabaudge o' a' his father's matrimonial conquest?ne.Sc. 1929 J. B. Philip Weelum o' the Manse 26:
That man gied the maist po'orfulest, the ablest and maist weel ordered prayer a iver hard.

2. Mostly, mainly, for the most part (Sh., Bnff., Ags. 1962). Obs. in Eng. Comb. maist pairtly, id.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxxv.:
Peter Walker the packman, that your honour, I dare say, kens, for he uses maist partly the westland of Scotland.Edb. 1826 M. & M. Corbett Odd Volume 157:
Sae after supper they fell to the strong yill, and to crackin, and the miller took his share in't, but nane o' his family said ony thing maist.Abd. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xxxiii.:
Though the hoose be fun't upo' a rock. it's maist biggit o' fells.Lth. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-head 72:
Nae crummie noo, As in past time was seen maist!