Meaning

noun the supreme effort one can make

noun the person who is most outstanding or excellent; someone who tops all others

noun Canadian physiologist (born in the United States) who assisted F. G. Banting in research leading to the discovery of insulin (1899-1978)

originFrom Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz. Cognates Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0