climax

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈklaɪ.mæks/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin climax (“rhetorical climax”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek κλῖμαξ (klîmax, “ladder”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} related to klínein “to lean”.^[3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In rhetoric, a figure in which a series of propositions rises step by step in force (1589).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The rhetorical figure was originally a chain of clauses in which the last word of one is repeated at the start of the next.^[4] The sense passed to the last term of such a series (1856) and, popularly, to the highest point of anything reached by gradual ascent (1789),^[7][3][4] a usage the OED attributes to “popular ignorance”.^[4][6] Later senses include the stable stage of an ecological community (1915) and sexual orgasm (by 1880 in Etymonline; 1918 in the OED).^[7][4] The verb dates from 1835.^[7][3][5][4]

Timeline

• 1589 – a rhetorical figure of ascending force.^[7][3][4]
• 1789 – the highest point, culmination.^[7][3][4]
• 1835 – verb, to bring to a climax.^[7][3][5]
• 1915 – in ecology, a stable plant community.^[7]
• 1918 – orgasm (OED).^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The point of greatest intensity in a series or progression; the culmination.
2. The decisive moment or turning point in a story or drama.
3. (rhetoric) A series of statements in ascending order of force, or the final statement of such a series.
4. An orgasm.
5. (ecology) A relatively stable community of organisms in equilibrium with its environment.

Verb

1. To bring to or reach a climax.

Word family

• anticlimax
• climactic

Related words

• climacteric
• climate
• incline

Usage notes

Random House lists summit, zenith, acme and apex as synonyms of the sense “highest point”.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press