Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
meist-. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
meist-, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
meist- in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
meist- you have here. The definition of the word
meist- will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
meist-, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
German
Etymology
From meist (“most; mostly”).
Pronunciation
Prefix
meist-
- forms the superlative of past participles when this form is used to express frequency
- das meistgelesene Buch ― the most read book
- der meistkritisierte Politiker ― the most criticized politician
Usage notes
- Past participle superlatives that express a degree can be formed in the normal way, that is with the suffix -st: die zerstörteste Stadt (“the most destroyed city”). Alternatively, am meisten can be used before the positive form: die am meisten zerstörte Stadt. (The latter is only possible with participles.)
- There may be a semantic difference between a superlative with meist- and a normal superlative (though this is not the case with every past participle and generally is not often relevant in practice). Compare:
- die zerstörteste Stadt (= die am meisten zerstörte Stadt) — the city that was most destroyed at a given point in time
- die meistzerstörte Stadt (= die am häufigsten zerstörte Stadt) — the city that was most often destroyed in its history
- Double superlatives with both the prefix meist- and the suffix -st are not seldom encountered: das meistgelesenste Buch. This is regarded nonstandard usage in the formal register, but need not strike people as ungrammatical in informal use.