a. superl. Forms: 1 æftemest, 2 eftemest, 4 aftermest, 8– aftermost. [In form a treble superlative of af-; thus af-te, afte-me (Goth. aftuma), afteme-st (OE. æftemest, Goth. aftumist), with a comparative ending inserted in the later af-te(r)-me-st. But in OE. afte existed only in the adv. form æftan (see AFT) with positive value; *æfteme (cf. forme, hindeme) is not found; and æftemest was treated as a superlative of æftere adj., and used both of time and space. Hence the corruption aftermest found already in 12th c.; then the word is unknown for six centuries, and the modern AFTERMOST may be a new formation on aft, after, on analogy of foremost, hindermost, etc.: see -MOST.]
† 1. Hindmost, last in order. Obs.
c. 880. K. Ælfred, Oros., iv. 6. Ðonne he sylf mid ðam fyrmestan dǽle wið ðæs æftemestan fluʓe.
c. 1000. Ælfric, O. T., 31. Ðeos bóc is æftemest on ðære biblioþécan.
† 2. Of time: Last. Obs.
c. 1000. O. E. Gosp., John vii. 37. On þam æftemestan mæran freolsdæʓe.
c. 1160. Hatton Gosp., ibid. On þam after-mesten mæren freolsdæʓe.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 23. And elch man heren his dom bi eftemeste erdede.
3. Naut. Nearest the stern of the ship, most aft.
1773. Hawkesworth, Voy., I. ii. 5 (T.). The ship laboured so much, that, to ease her, I ordered the two foremost, and two aftermost guns to be thrown overboard.
1834. M. Scott, Cruise of Midge (1863), 63. We found a cluster of people at the aftermost part of the felucca.
