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maximal

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Etymology and origin of the French word maximal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1877 Littré, Supplément More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin maximus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French maximum
English maximum
French maximal
From the same root
English max ← maximum
English maximal ← maximum
English maximize ← maximum

Pronunciation

  • /mak.si.mal/[1]

Forms

maximal (feminine maximale, masculine plural maximaux, feminine plural maximales)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French maximum + -al, with a change of suffix.[2][1][3] That noun is the neuter of Latin maximus (“greatest”), the superlative belonging to magnus (“great”).[4] The TLFi compares the English word maximal, of the same meaning, recorded from 1882.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1877 in Littré's Supplement, in the article on minimal, meaning “that constitutes a maximum”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, “reaching its highest value or degree”, and is used beside maximum as an adjective, as minimal is beside minimum.[2][5] The phrase vitesse maximale autorisée “maximum permitted speed” is dated to about 1953.[5]

Its derivatives began in politics: maximalisme (1910) and maximaliste (1917) first named Bolshevism and its supporters, who pressed for the fullest demands within the Russian social-democratic party, before the loan bolchévisme displaced them.[3] From 1957 they took the wider sense of a leaning towards extreme demands.[3] The verb maximaliser (1963) competes with maximiser.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1877 – First record, in Littré's Supplement.[2][5]
  • 1910 – Maximalisme appears.[3]
  • 1917 – Maximaliste appears.[3]
  • c. 1953 – Vitesse maximale is used of a speed limit.[5]
  • 1963 – Maximaliser is recorded in the Larousse encyclopédique.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Reaching its highest degree or greatest value, maximum: une température maximale, the opposite of minimal.[2][5][4]
  2. Vitesse maximale autorisée: the speed limit.[5]

Word family

  • maximaliser
  • maximalisme
  • maximaliste

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Maximal.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/maximal. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·