Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗To make worse. · To grow worse; to deteriorate. · To outdo or defeat, especially in battle.
superlative form of badly: most badly; least well.
Something or someone that is the worst.
Most inferior; doing the least good. · Most unfavorable. · Most harmful or severe. · Used with the definite article and an implied noun: something that is worst.
From Middle English worste, wurste, warste, werste, wirste, from Old English wierrest, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz, superlative form of *ubilaz (“bad, evil”); compare worse. Cognate with Old Saxon wirsista, wirrista (“worst”), Old High German wirst, wirsesto, wirsisto (“worst”), Danish værst (“worst”), Swedish värst (“worst”), Icelandic verstur (“worst”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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