Word.ws English Dictionary

alderliefest

Syllables: al·der·lief·est/ˌɔːldəˈliːfɪst/US/ˈɔldəɹˌlifɪst/

alderliefest adjective: often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved.

Adjective

alderliefest (not comparable)

  1. (archaic, obsolete) Often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved.
    • VVith you mine Alder liefeſt Soueraigne, / Makes me the bolder to ſalute my King, / VVith ruder termes, ſuch as my vvit affoords, / And ouer ioy of heart doth miniſter.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • Ye alderliefeſt Dublin hills! / On leaving you my full heart fills, / And fill mine eyes with tears, […]1879, John Kingston James, Day Dreams, […], London: […] [Charles Whittingham at the Chiswick Press] for private circulation, →OCLC, page 31

Forms of alderliefest

alternative formalder-liefest
alternative formalderlievest

Origin of alderliefest

From Middle English alderlevest (“dearest of all”), from alder- (“of all, very”, prefix forming the superlative of adjectives or adverbs) (the genitive plural of al (“all, entirely, utterly, very”)) + lefest, levest (“dearest, most beloved”) (from lef, leve (“beloved or dear to someone”) (from Old English lēof (“beloved, dear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to admire, praise; to covet, desire; to love”)) + -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs)). The English word is analysable as alder- ((archaic) prefix meaning ‘having the greatest degree of something, of all’) + lief (“(archaic) beloved, dear”, adjective) + -est (suffix forming the superlative of adjectives and adverbs). Cognates * Dutch allerliefst * German allerliebst

Questions about alderliefest

What does alderliefest mean?
Alderliefest means often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved.
What part of speech is alderliefest?
Alderliefest is an adjective.
How do you pronounce alderliefest?
Alderliefest is pronounced /ˌɔːldəˈliːfɪst/ (UK).

Words near alderliefest in the dictionary

  1. alderfly
  2. Aldergrove
  3. alderleast
  4. Alderley
  5. Alderley Edge
  6. alderliefest
  7. alderlievest
  8. alderlike
  9. alderman
  10. alderman hung in chains
  11. alderman in chains

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alderliefest (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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