English
aftermost
Aftermost comes from Old English æfter ‘after’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ‘away, off, from’, and ultimately from *h₂ep.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ep1reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂epó2‘away, off, from’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*after3‘after, behind’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150æfter4as æftemest‘after’
- Englishearliest quotation 1627aftermost4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó
- 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *after
- 3 Wiktionary, Old English æfter
- 4 Wiktionary, English aftermost
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, Henry Ainsworth, Annotations upon the Five Bookes of Moses: “And he put the handmaids and their children, first:…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂epWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂epóreconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂epóWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *after‘away, off, from’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*afterWiktionary, Old English æfter‘after, behind’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150æfterWiktionary, English aftermostas æftemest‘after’
- Englishearliest quotation 1627aftermostWiktionary, English aftermost. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, Henry Ainsworth, Annotations upon the Five Bookes of Moses: “And he put the handmaids and their children, first:…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ‘away, off, from’
of, off, abdomen, overt, 3 more
through Old English æfter ‘after’
Today it means
adj Nearest the stern of a vessel; farthest aft.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “aftermost”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó, Proto-Germanic *after, Old English æfter. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep / aftermost