English
alderliefest
Alderliefest comes from Middle English alderlevest ‘dearest of all’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alderlevest‘dearest of all’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591alderliefest
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alderlevest‘dearest of all’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591alderliefest
Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “VVith you mine Alder liefeſt Soueraigne, / Makes me…”
Formed from alder- + lief ‘(archaic) beloved, dear’ + -est
Proto-Germanic *allaz ‘all’
Proto-West Germanic *all
Old English eall ‘all’
Old English ealra ‘strong/weak genitive…’
English alder-
Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- ‘to desire, love’
…
Proto-Germanic *leubaz ‘dear, beloved’
Proto-West Germanic *leub ‘dear, beloved’
Old English lēof ‘dear, beloved’
Middle English lef ‘beloved, dear’
English lief
The story
The English word is analysable as alder- ((archaic) prefix meaning ‘having the greatest degree of something, of all’) + lief (“(archaic) beloved, dear”, adjective) + -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs).
Every English word from Middle English alderlevest
Today it means
adj Often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English alderlevest / alderliefest