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helst. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
helst, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
helst in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
helst you have here. The definition of the word
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helst, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse helzt.
Pronunciation
Adverb
helst
- superlative degree of gerne (“willingly”)
Derived terms
Related terms
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse helzt.
Adverb
helst
- superlative degree of gjarna (“willingly”)
Þetta vildi ég helst ekki.- I didn't really want that.
Derived terms
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse helzt.
Adverb
helst
- superlative degree of gjerne (“willingly”)
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
From Old Norse helzt.
Pronunciation
Adverb
helst
- superlative degree of gjerne
Etymology 2
Verb
helst
- past participle of helsa
References
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse helzt.
Pronunciation
Adverb
helst
- superlative degree of gärna (“happily”): most of all (most preferably)
Han vill gärna ha en grön kanin, men hellre en gul kanin, och helst en blå kanin- He would be happy to own a green rabbit, but would prefer a yellow rabbit, and most of all he would like a blue rabbit
- preferably
– Dricka frätande syra är onyttigt. – Jo, det bör man helst inte göra.- – Drinking corrosive acid is unhealthy. – Yeah, it's best not to do so. ("Yeah, that ought one preferably not do")
Usage notes
Can also be analyzed as "most preferably" in (sense 2), which is closer to the native intuition: "The most preferred thing is to not drink corrosive acid." That meaning is equivalent to "preferably" though.
Derived terms
See also
Further reading