Rearwardmost

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Located at the very far end to the rear or back of something
2. Positioned at the utmost point behind other things in a sequence or space
3. Situated at the extreme rear, the farthest part away from the front

Etymology: "Rearwardmost" is built from two English parts: "rearward," meaning toward or at the back, and the superlative suffix "-most," which marks the extreme end of a range, as in "foremost" or "uppermost." Joining them produces an adjective for the single point farthest back in a line or sequence. The first part, "rearward," is itself a compound of "rear" and the adverbial ending "-ward," which has long pointed a direction of motion. "Rear" goes back to Middle English "rere," the hindmost part of something, and combining it with "-ward" gave a word for movement or position toward the back. Because "-most" attaches readily to directional words, speakers could stack it onto "rearward" to pick out the very last position in a series. The result is a transparent formation rather than a word with a dramatic history, and its meaning can be read straight from its parts.

Synonyms: hindmost, last, furthest back

Antonyms: foremost, front, leading