Of all my books I like this the best. DICK., Cop., Pref. I see that good and faithful servant whom of all the people upon earth I love the best. Ib., Ch. IX, 66a. He was the greatest patriot in their eyes who brawled the loudest and who cared the least for decency. Id., Chu z., Ch. XVI, 141a. All the stout people go off the quickest. Id., Ol. Twist, Ch. IV, 47. It was he who was the most moved, sudden as the shock was to her. THACK., Van. Fair, I, Ch. XVIII, 183. It was difficult to say which of the young men seemed to regard her the most tenderly. Id., Pend., II, Ch. XX, 222. Of all these boys William writes the worst. MAS., Eng. Gram.34, § 274. But the mother of the king hid away the weakest child, which was born the last. RID. HAG., Sol. Mines, 112. This passage led back into that very part of the house from which you thought yourself the farthest. Miss BRAD., Lady Audley's Secret, I, Ch. I, 3. Don't you think, Eustace, good people are always the least understood and the most persecuted. GRANT ALLEN, Tents of Shem., Ch. XVI. Note. The before an adverbial superlative can hardly be considered as the definite article. It is, however, an indubitable article in the adverbial phrase the least used as a variant of in the least, which looks like the original expression. In the least and the least are used indifferently before adjectives, but only the former is used as a verb-modifier. Note that the least always stands before its head-word, and that this is also the ordinary place of in the least when modifying an adjective. i. * All that I wished for was that one of those saucy, grinning footmen should say or do something to me that was the least uncivil. THACK., Sam. Titm., Ch. III, 37. I do not recall them (sc. these sick experiences) to make others unhappy, or because I am now the least unhappy in remembering them. DICK., Bleak House, Ch. XXXV, 300. ** Everything in the house that was in the least pretty or ornamental had been carried together in this apartment. DOR. GERARD, The Etern. Wom., Ch. XV. I am not in the least tired. Ib. It is not in the least likely that Lord Staines would have been angry with any one. NORRIS, My Friend Jim, Ch. I, 8. Though he has been writing for 30 years, he has never become in the least old-fashioned. Times. *** He is a comely youth and not proud in the least. LYTTON, Rienzi, I, Ch. III, 25. ii. If I moved in the least, she gave me the cruellest poke with her foot. DICK., Cop., Ch. V, 36a. That does not concern me in the least. ANSTEY, A Fallen Idol, Ch. Thus also the is an indubitable article in for the + superlative as used in: I think that all will agree with me that I acted for the wisest, in withdrawing to my shelter. BLACKMORE, Lorna Doone, Ch. XXXII, 196. 36. a) In comparing the different intensities of a quality in either substances, or in states or actions, as they appear in different places, at different times or in different circumstances generally, the English has a predicative or an adverbial superlative, as the case may be, almost regularly without the. Before a periphrastic superlative the use of the may sometimes be due to desire of preventing its being understood as absolute. (44.) i. The raw afternoon is rawest, and the dense fog is densest, and the muddy streets are muddiest near the leaden-headed old obstruction. DICK., Bleak House, Ch. I, 6. At such times the hurry-skurry of the storm was always greatest. WASH. Madame d'Arblay was most successful in comedy, and indeed in comedy Once when the church was coldest and the draught most piercing, he in the The waters of a river are often shallowest there where they cover the widest **Then his conduct was the most execrable. DICK., Christm. Car. 5, The rooks settle where the trees are the finest. LYTTON, My Novel, I, My affections are always the warmest when my friends are within attainable I find him the most excellent on a Sunday. CH. BRONTË, Vil., Ch. III, 29. ii. * Religion is a plant that flourishes best where life is happiest. BEsant, All Sorts and Cond. of Men, Ch. IX, 82. I like the river best when the tide is nearly at its full. Id., The Bell of The indomitable spirit of Civilis flamed most brightly when the clouds were ** With waves in wild motion we love it (the sea) the most. The green banks where the dew falls the thickest. Lit. World. Observe the idiom in: I am happy where you are, but we were happiest of all at Walcote Forest. THACK., Henry Esm., I, Ch. 1, 8. (= het allergelukkigst.) Note. The exact grammatical function also of this the is hard to determine. It may be understood as the definite article before the predicative superlative of an adjective; but this cannot possibly be its character when it stands before an adverbial superlative. b) Instead of the bare superlative of the adjective we also find a superlative preceded by at + possessive pronoun. This latter construction is usual only with terminational superlatives. It does not seem to differ materially from that mentioned under a), but has a wider sphere of application, being the only available one in other functions than that of the nominal part of the predicate. WENDT, E. S., IV; id., Synt. des Adj., 41; STOF., E. S., XXVIII. 1. The dock was now at its busiest. STEPHENSON, Treas. Isl., 67. People are never at their best in a crowd. SARAH GRAND, Our manifold Nature, 84. 1) TEN BRUG., Taalst., X. When the subject of the ball was at its highest, there seemed to be an extra shine on its glossy surface. Ib., 63. In the luncheon hour the house-boats are at their gayest and the laughter at its earliest. Graph., 1891, 70c. Just when I am at my most diabolical. ISR. ZANGWILL, A Dict. in Distress (WEERSMA, Col. of Stor. and Sketches, 79). ii. Even at his ungainliest and his most wilful Mr. Thompson sins still in the grand manner. Academy. 1) In 'Doctor Dick' we have the author at his most useful. Lit. World. 1) Burke at his best is English at its best. 2) It was Emerald Fanny at her most effective, who responded. AGN. & EG. CASTLE, Diam. cut Paste, II, Ch. IV, 147. At his most sensational you are never aware of invention. Punch (Westm. Gaz., No. 6047, 1a). Note. In this construction the neuter singular possessive pronoun is sometimes replaced by the, which, as the following superlative is felt as an adjective converted into a noun, may be considered as the definite article. (Ch. XXIX, 21, 23.) She is of the house of Douglas, a house that has intermarried with mine, even when its glory and power were at the highest. SCOTT, Bride of Lam., Ch. XIX, 191. The first Roman wall was built between the two Friths of the Clyde and the Forth, just where the island of Britain is at the narrowest. Id., Tales of a Grandfather, I, 4. It was now sunset the throng at the fullest. LYTTON, What will he do with it?, I, Ch. I, 1. Things, however, were not yet at the worst. MAC., War. Hast., (630b). Instances of the preposition at falling out in this construction, as in the following quotation, seem to be very rare: The mater had been her crossest, and Bicky her silentest. BAR. VON Hutten, The Halo, I, Ch. I, 13. Such nouns as height and full sometimes do practically the same duty as the superlative. i. The sport was at its height, the sliding was at the quickest, the laughter was at the loudest, when a smart crack was heard. DICK., Pickw., Ch. XXX, 271. While the fire was at its height, a tank containing 16 tons of creosote became ignited and burst. Times. ** In the most interesting moment of his passage to England, when the alarm of a French privateer was at the height, she burst through his recital with the proposal of soup. JANE AUSTEN, Mansfield Park, Ch. XIX, 185. ii. I like the river best when the tide is at its full. WALTER BESANT, The Bell of St. Paul's, II, Ch. XIII, 11. Compare also: My fortunes were at their lowest ebb. THACK., Barry Lyndon, Ch. VI, 94. Three weeks later, when Dorlcote Mill was at its prettiest moment in all the year [etc.]. G. ELIOT, Mi11, V, Ch. VI, 321. 1) STOF., E. S., IV. 2) WENDT, Synt. des Adj., 41. H. POUTSMA, A Grammar of Late Modern English. II. 37. To express the highest effort in the matter of an action, the English, like the Dutch, uses a superlative preceded by a posSessive pronoun. The superlative is sometimes preceded by the adverb very for greater emphasis. i. The two women shrieked their loudest. THACK., Pend., II, Ch. XXXVIII, 409. The birds were singing their loudest. Punch. The noise reached its loudest when Mr. Bartley . . . declared it to be an outrageous scandal [etc.]. Times. The emissaries from Ulster . . . worked their hardest to alarm the electors about Home Rule. Westm. Gaz., No. 6311, 1b. ii. Admiral Bowster stared his very hardest. Miss BRADDON, My First Happy Christmas. (STOF., Handl., I, 70.) Other stars even the smallest scintillated and sparkled their very best. Note I. Sometimes at appears before this superlative. He led me, in a courtly manner, stepping at his tallest, to an open place beside the water. BLACKM., Lorna Doone, Ch. XXI, 119. From six that morning till past noon the huge wood fire in the kitchen roared and sparkled at its highest. HARDY, Far from the Madding Crowd, Ch. LII, 422. II. The precise grammatical character of this superlative is somewhat hard to define. The most plausible view, apparently, is to consider it an adjective partially converted into a noun. (Ch. XXIX, 21, 23.) 38. Many superlatives form adverbial adjuncts in connection with the preposition at. In the majority of these the definite article is usually suppressed. The suppression is sometimes attended by a modification of meaning, but may also be a matter of metre or rhythm. The grammatical nature of the superlatives is that of an adjective partially converted into a noun. (Ch. XXIX, 22, Obs. VI, p.) at (the) best. MURRAY gives two meanings, the first of which he marks as obsolete: "a) at the best possible pitch, in the best possible way, manner or condition; b) (taken) in the best circumstances, in the most favourable aspect, making every allowance, at most." In the latter meaning MURRAY mentions only at best, i. e. he does not mention at the best as an alternative form. Instances, however, occur Occasionally. SHAKESPEARE has in the best in the sense of at best. FRANZ, Shak. Gram., § 268. 1. And wel we weren esed atte (= at the) beste. CHAUCER, Cant. Tales, Prol., 29. (= fully at ease.) Good Brabantio, take up this mangled matter at the best. Othello, I, 3, 171. **The Orsini are tyrants and the Colonnas are, at the best, as bad. LYTTON, Rienzi, I, Ch. III, 22. It is a mad policy at the best. Times. At the best we cannot expect any but a gradual return to normal conditions in France. Westm. Gaz., No. 5436, 1c. ii. His pace was at best an awkward one in the street. DICK., Chimes, II, 37. I am not a musician, only a musical box at best. DOR. GERARD, The iii. Murder most foul, as in the best it is; | But this most foul, strange and unnatural. Haml., I, 5, 27. at (the) earliest. The article is more frequently used than suppressed. i. They were not likely to receive an answer for eight or ten weeks at the earliest. DICK., Chu z., Ch. XXXIII, 2686. I cannot hear from Dick at the earliest before Tuesday evening. Mrs. ALEX., A Life Interest, II, Ch. XVIII, 291. ii. I charge thee not to attempt to travel till to-morrow at earliest. SCOTT, Ivanhoe Ch. XL, 416. The division won't be till half past ten at earliest. Mrs. WARD, Marc., III, 37. The little pink bells do not show till June at earliest. JOHN LLOYD WARDEN PAGE, The Coasts of Devon and Lundy Island, Ch. II, 12. at (the) farthest (or furthest). The article is mostly suppressed, at least in Present English. i. TRANIO. Travel you far on, or are you at the farthest? PEDANT. Sir, at the farthest for a week or two; | But then up farther, and as far as Rome. Taming of the Shrew, IV, 2, 75. Let it be so hasted that supper be ready at the farthest by five of the clock. Merch., II, 2, 122. "I shan't be avay more than a day or two, sir, at the farthest" said Sam. DICK., Pick w., Ch. LII, 479. ii. In two or three days at farthest. GOLDSM., Good-nat. man, III. The secret complaint will kill him in a few months at furthest. FLOR. Marryat, Open Sesame, 105. A second lieutenant considers himself very badly treated by Fate if he does not attain a lieutenancy within a couple of years at farthest. Graph. at fewest. No further instances than the following have come to hand. In all instances which I have yet investigated, the substance of this germ has peculiar composition, consisting of at fewest four elementary bodies. HUXL., Darw., Ch. V, 199. at (the) first. The expression with the article is found in the sense of a) from the first, at the outset (= Dutch al dadelijk); b) in the earliest times; c) in the beginning (= Dutch in het eerst). At first is used in the sense of a) in the beginning (= Dutch in het eerst, in het begin), b) the first time (= Dutch de eerste keer), c) at once, directly (= Dutch dadelijk), d) first (= Dutch het eerst), e) in the beginning of life, in like manner as at last sometimes means in the end of life. In the first sense it is found in statements that are thought of as a contrast to another, which, accordingly, often opens with but. These may be the principal shades of meaning of at the first and at first. Altogether it is often difficult to apprehend their precise meaning. Only at first in the first sense indicated above, is at all common in Present English. See also FRANZ, Shak. Gram.2, § 268. i. Let him that moved you hither | Remove you hence: I knew you at the first | You were a moveable. Taming of the Shrew, II, 197. O, never was there queen | So mightily betray'd! yet at the first | I saw the treasons planted. Ant. and Cleop., I, 2, 25. "Did any of them know of your coming?" "Yes, My Wife and Children saw me at the first, and called after me to turn again." BUNYAN, Pilg. Prog., (151). For it was thro' me | This evil came on William at the first. TEN., Dora. ** Anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as't were, the mirror up to nature. Haml., III, 2, 23. |
