Utmost

a. and sb. Forms: α. 1 ute-, utmest (Northumb. wut-), 3 ute-, 4 ut-, 5, 6 Sc. vtmest; 5 north. and Sc. vtmast, Sc. 6 vt-, 9 utmaist; 4–7 vt., 5–6 vtte-, 7– utmost (6 vtmoste, vtmoost). β. 3–4 otemost, 4–5 ottemoste; 4 ot-, ottemeste. [OE. útemest, útmest (rare, and chiefly northern, variants of the usual ýte-, ýtmest), a double superlative (cf. FOREMOST, INMOST) from úte or út OUTE, OUT advs. + -m-est: see -MOST. Cf. the later OUTMOST a.

  In Layamon 11023 utemæste prob. represents OE. ýtemeste. The ME. forms with ote-, otte-, ot- seem to imply an earlier ŭte- with shortened vowel (as in Icel. ŭtan from ūt). The shortening in utmost may be partly due to the double consonant, and partly to the influence of UTTER a.]

  I.  1. a. Situated farthest from the center; occupying, lying at, or dwelling in the extreme bound or bounds; most external or remote in position or location; outermost, uttermost; OUTMOST a. 1.

  a.  c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxii. 13. Sendas hine in ðiostrum ðæm utmestum.

c. 1100.  Ælfred’s Boeth., xix. (Bodl. MS.). Þeah hit nu ʓebyriʓe þæt ða utemestan ðioda eowerne naman up ahebban.

c. 1320.  Sir Orfeo, 357 (Auchinleck MS.). Al þe vtmast wal Was … schine as cristal.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 5487. Beyten is out in the orient the vtmast syde.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., III. i. 8. Ane of his tais with The vtmast endis be þe lith Quyt wes smyttyn of þaim.

c. 1450.  Godstow Reg., 106. His ende vttemost toward the tenement of the forsaid Vincente Menge.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. viii. 12. The children of the Kingdom shalbe cast out in to the vtmoost dercknes.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 12. Corineus had that Prouince vtmost west To him assigned.

1618.  Lawson, New Orchard (1623), 46. We admit without the fence, of Walnuts in most plaine places, Trees middle-most, and … Elmes vtmost.

1660.  Barrow, Euclid, I. prop. 21. The utmost points of one side of a triangle.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, IX. 221. Where the foes their utmost guards advance.

1729.  T. Innes, Crit. Ess. (1879), 63. The utmost extremities of the north of Britain.

1798.  S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., II. 326. The utmost limit of creation!

1820.  Shelley, Prometh. Unb., IV. 372. It … doth pass Into the utmost leaves and delicatest flowers.

1859.  Tennyson, Elaine, 525. Knights of utmost North and West.

1877.  Ruskin, St. Mark’s Rest, iv. (1894), 50. The entire tablet varied to its utmost edge.

  fig.  1667.  South, Serm. (1715), II. 24. Which surely must reach the utmost Thoughts of any Atheist whatsoever.

  β.  1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 11433. Þe castel hii asailede,… & brake þe otemoste wal.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 303. In þe vttermeste (MS. α. otmeste) ende of all þe erþe.

a. 1390.  Wycliffite Bible, Num. xxii. 36 (MS. Bodl. 959). [A] toun … sette in ye otemost coostys of Arnon.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XV. clv. (Bodl. MS.), Þe ottemoste norþe … of Germania.

c. 1450.  M. E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 93. Pile þe barke þe ottemoste [v.r. ottemoste rynde] awey.

  † b.  Of garments: Outermost; exterior. Obs.

1553.  Respublica, 1774. Doe of your vtmoste robes eche one.

1584.  T. Hudson, Du Bartas’ Judith, IV. (1611), 47. Her vtmost robe was colour blew Cœlest.

  c.  Furthest extended; greatest in extent, length, measure, etc.

1709.  Felton, Diss. Classics (1718), 12. To put forth Your Hand to the utmost Stretch, and reach whatever You aspire at.

1746.  Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., I. xvi. 108. Death is … That utmost Course, where human Sorrow ends.

1791.  Cowper, Odyss., XI. 454. A night of utmost length.

1844.  Kinglake, Eöthen, xvii. All the whole earth that I could reach with my utmost sight and keenest listening was still.

  2.  That is of the greatest or highest degree; of the largest amount, number, etc.; extreme.

  Somewhat rare before 1590; in freq. use since 1710.

a. 1325.  Prose Psalter, lvii. 6. God shal defoulen her teþe…; our Lord shal breke þe uttemast [Dublin MS. ottermast] iuels of þe wicked.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xii. (Mathias), 113. Scho let hym wyt þe vtmast thinge, þat he wes but a fundlynge.

1482.  Monk of Evesham, xxli. (Arb.), 53. He was takyn … to the vtmest peynys and ponissement of dethe.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 2 b. The vttemost perfeccyon that man may attayne to.

1586.  Marlowe, 1st Pt. Tamburl., II. iii. With amitie we yeeld Our vtmost seruice to the faire Cosroe.

1610.  Chester’s Triumph, B 4. What e’re our more then strained vtmost-All Can possibly performe, performe we shall.

1628.  May, Virg. Georg., III. 84. Her temptations make Two stubborne Bulls … with their Hornes to try their utmost deedes.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 103. His utmost power with adverse power oppos’d In dubious Battel.

1704.  Evelyn, Diary, 7 Sept. This day was celebrated the thanksgiving … with the utmost pomp and splendour.

1782.  Miss Burney, Cecilia, V. iv. Her mind was now in a state of the utmost confusion.

1805.  Wordsw., Waggoner, II. 73. The utmost anger of the sky.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Brooke Farm, iii. 35. The utmost profit of a cow.

1876.  Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., I. vii. His antigropelos, the utmost approach he possessed to a hunting equipment.

  3.  Latest in order or time; last, final. Now rare.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xxv. 348. Mary, me mynnys, thi moder hight, the vtmast ende of all thy kyn.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. v. 26. Till thou have payed the vtmost [1611 vttermost] farthing.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. i. 49. In these sad word she spent her vtmost breath. Ibid. (1591), Ruins of Time, 45. From their first vntill their vtmost date.

1642.  Milton, Apol. Smect., 41. Many wise men have miscarried in praising great designe before the utmost event.

1670–1.  Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 367. Censure … against those who, after an utmost day set, shall persist to absent themselves.

1672.  Dryden, Conq. Granada, II. i. ’Till I have found the last and utmost Foe.

1691.  Swift, Ode Athenian Society, xi. When the sad melancholy muse Stays but to catch his utmost breath.

1772.  Priestley, Inst. Relig. (1782), I. 82. They prolong life to the utmost term of nature.

1809–12.  Mar. Edgeworth, Absentee, iv. He would use it [sc. the power] to obtain the utmost penny of his debt.

1818.  Byron, Juan, I. lxxx. I … hear these freedoms form the utmost list Of all o’er which such love may be a ranger.

1856.  Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xv. 171. Grating it down nicely,… and adding the utmost oil as a lubricant.

  II.  absol. and as sb.

  In Lindisf. Gosp., Mark v. 23. in utmestum is used to render the L. in extremis (= at the point of death).

  4.  That which is most outward, distant, or remote; the farthest part, district, limit, etc., of an extent or area. Now only arch.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, cxxxviii. 9. In ðem utmestan sæs.

a. 950.  Ritual Dunelm. (Surtees), 55. Oð to vtmeste earðes.

1382.  Wyclif, Job xxxvi. 30. The vtmost of the se he shal couere. Ibid. (1382), Acts i. 8. Ȝe schulen be witnessis to me … to the vtmeste [v.r. vtermest] of erthe.

1614.  W. B., Philosopher’s Banquet (ed. 2), 43. The vtmost of the taile is poyson.

1615.  G. Sandys, Trav., 177. A City … on the utmost of the ridge of a hill.

1887.  Morris, Odyssey, XI. 13. At last unto the utmost of the Ocean-stream we came.

  † b.  sb. pl. Remotest parts of the earth, etc. rare.

1382.  Wyclif, Ps. cxxxiv. 7. Bringende out cloudis fro the vtmostis [v.r. vttermostis] of the erthe. Ibid. (1382), Isaiah vii. 18. The fleȝe, that is in the vtmostes [v.r. vttermostis] of the flodus of Egipt.

  5.  That which is greatest or of the highest degree; the most or greatest possible or attainable in respect of force, skill, etc.; the utmost point, extreme limit or degree, of something.

1472.  Cov. Leet Bk., 377. Thei … seid thei wold abyde with the Maire … to the vtmost of herr goodes in that mater.

1526.  Tindale, Acts xxiv. 22. When Lisias … is come, I will know the vtmost of youre matters.

1594.  1st Pt. Contention, C 4. To morrow we will ride to London, And trie the vtmost of these Treasons forth.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., VI. i. 38. Thinking the vtmost of their force to trie.

1622.  Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 346. The Painter … shew’d therein the vtmost of his skill.

1667.  Earl Orrery, St. Lett. (1742), 331. The utmost I aimed at … was to tell your grace what others told me.

1752.  Hume, Ess. & Treat. (1777), I. 95. The utmost we have to boast of are a few essays.

1764.  Reid, Inquiry, i. 75. The utmost which the human faculties can attain.

1805.  J. Spaulding, Universalism, 129. Mr. W. asserts … that the damned suffer the utmost of their desert.

1838.  Thirlwall, Greece, V. 153. Thebes had accomplished the utmost she could now reasonably aim at.

1855.  Bain, Senses & Int., I. ii. § 23. The utmost that can be said in the present state of our knowledge.

  b.  With possessive adjs.: The highest, greatest, or best of one’s ability, power, etc.; the very most. Freq. with do.

c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, II. 119. Come then,… and fly to our loved home; for now, nor ever, shall Our utmost take in broad-wayed Troy.

1646.  Gaule, Cases Consc., 118. Their utmost is but to produce a … false species of things.

1660.  South, Serm. (1715), IV. 23. Nor will it suffice … to rally up all one’s little Utmost into one Discourse.

1690.  Locke, Hum. Und., IV. xix. § 15. A Man, having … done his utmost to inform himself in all Particulars,… may [etc.].

1708.  Addison, Pres. State of War, 26. Let us perform our utmost,… and we shall overwhelm ’em.

1785.  Burns, To Rev. John M‘Math, xvi. [One who] to his utmost would befriend Ought that belang’d ye.

1818.  Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 633. Will you do your utmost to obtain justice?

1856.  Miss Yonge, Daisy Chain, I. xviii. His work, after he goes to Oxford, will be doing his very utmost—and you know what an utmost that is.

1887.  P. McNeill, Blawearie, 136. It taxed to its utmost the ingenuity of the rival wooers.

  c.  As sb. An extreme amount, degree, or limit.

1856.  [see prec. sense].

1863.  Jean Ingelow, Poems, 24. Forever yawns before our eyes An utmost—that is veiled.

  6.  The end, finish, or issue of something.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., II. i. 36. See that Claudio Be executed;… let him be prepar’d, For that’s the vtmost of his pilgrimage.

1666.  Boyle, Orig. Forms & Qual., 264. An Accident robb’d me of my Glasse, before I could see the utmost of the Event.

1674.  [see UTTERMOST a. 6].

  7.  To the utmost, to the extreme or uttermost degree, extent, capacity, or limit. Also const. of (one’s power, etc.).

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, I. 91. Gracyously he woll þat a man be demed wyth mercy and not to þe vtmast here.

1526.  Tindale, 1 Thess. ii. 16. For the wrath of God is come on them, even to the vtmost.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., V. iii. 146. Some of ye … Would trye him to the vtmost, had ye meane.

1685.  Boyle, Enq. Notion Nat., vii. 266. I grew weary before I had prosecuted it to the utmost.

1738.  Wesley, Ps. V. vi. Thy wrath on the rebellious Race Shall to the utmost come.

1756.  C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, III. 307. Let us pursue our enquiries to the utmost.

1834.  Ht. Martineau, Demerara, iv. 46. He was sure to … torment the animal to the utmost.

1860.  Motley, Netherl., ii. I. 59. He would keep his pledge to the utmost.

1873.  F. Hall, in Scribner’s Monthly, VI. 465. The sages … have certainly consulted his comfort to the utmost.

  (b)  1596.  Edward III., IV. v. 86. That same man … keepes it [sc. his word] to the vtmost of his power.

1659.  Nicholas Papers (Camden), IV. 147. I shall to the vttmost of my power constantly endeauour to doe him right.

1729.  Law, Serious C., vi. 90. So sure is it, that we are to do them to the utmost of our power.

1802.  Mrs. E. Parsons, Myst. Visit, II. 245. The good woman … fortunately succeeded to the utmost of her wish.

1875.  Manning, Mission H. Ghost, xii. 346. Let us to the utmost of our power, submit our will to the will of God.

  8.  At the utmost († at utmost), at the very most in respect of time, quantity, etc. Cf. MOST a. 6.

1619.  in Foster, Eng. Factories India (1906), I. 143. 15 dayes stay there, or 20 at uttmost.

1643.  Trapp, Comm. Gen. xi. 7. [He] beautified it, or, at utmost, inlarged it.

1722.  Whiston, The. Earth, III. iii. 247. The Modern Age of Men at the utmost is not 80.

1753.  Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl. App. s.v. Vultur, The head … has, at the utmost, only a downy matter on it.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), II. 418. At the utmost it was in the discretion of the Court.

  Hence † Utmostness. nonce-use.

1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 7. With all that earnestness of threatning, that may beget in man the utmostness of dread.