Etymologically
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maximum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmæk.sɪ.məm/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French maximum, and directly borrowed from Latin maximum, the neuter of maximus (“greatest”),[2][3][4] the superlative of magnus “great, large”,[2][3] from *mag-samo-, a superlative form of Proto-Indo-European *meg- (“great”).[3] It is related to maxim and much.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The highest attainable quantity or amount: 1740 in the OED, Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate.[5][2][3][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged has a first use in 1663,[7] the New Oxford the mid-17th century,[8] and the Shorter Oxford the mid-16th, in senses now obsolete.[9]

Semantic evolution

In mathematics, the greatest value of a variable or function, it is from 1743.[5] A limit imposed by authority is from 1821, especially in French history of the maximum price of corn and goods.[5] The highest temperature or pressure recorded is from 1850.[5] The adjective, “greatest, at the maximum”, is from 1834,[3][2][5] and dates, according to the New Oxford, from the early 19th century.[8] Maximize is from 1802, in Bentham's writings.[2]

Timeline

  • 1663 – first use in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.[7]
  • 1740 – the greatest amount.[5][2][3]
  • 1743 – in mathematics.[5]
  • 1802 – maximize.[2]
  • 1821 – a limit set by authority.[5]
  • 1834 – adjective.[3][2]
  • 1850 – the highest recorded.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The greatest possible quantity or degree.
  2. The greatest quantity or degree reached or recorded.
  3. An upper limit permitted by law or authority.
  4. (mathematics) The greatest value of a function.

Adjective

  1. Being the greatest possible or the highest reached: maximum speed.

Word family

  • maximin
  • minimax
  • maximum-security
  • maximal
  • maximize

Usage notes

The plural is maxima or maximums.[6][9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press