Northmost

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Situated at the greatest or most extreme point toward the north
2. Located at the utmost northern end or tip of a region or area
3. Being the most northern position relative to other points or locations

Etymology: "Northmost" is a plain formation: "north" with the superlative suffix "-most," the same ending found in "uttermost," "innermost" and "foremost." The suffix comes from Old English "-mest," a superlative marker that English used to build the most extreme point in a direction or series, so the word simply means the furthest north. The word's origin is less tidy than it looks. It may be a straightforward combination of "north" and "-most," but it may instead descend from Old English "norþmest," a form that already existed. Over time, speakers reanalyzed the word as "north" plus "-most," the same kind of folk reshaping that turned "foremost" into a word that seems to contain "fore" and "most." The two possible histories therefore lead to the same modern shape, and the reanalysis is what makes it look like a recent compound.

Synonyms: northernmost, farthest north

Antonyms: southernmost