extremum

Forms

extrēmum n (genitive extrēmī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of extrēmus (“outermost, last”) used as a noun.^[1][2] The adjective is formed from exter (“outside”) with -ēmus; de Vaan explains it as an old superlative ⟨*ekster-isamo-⟩, which replaced the older extimus, ultimately from ex (“out of”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, who speaks of one and the same limit for the empire and for the world.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

It is the furthest part or limit, the outside of a thing (Lucretius), the tip, and in the plural the extremities of the body, Pliny the Elder uses it of the lowest part.^[1] It is the end of an activity or a text, defending a cause usque ad extrēmum, “to the very end”, and the last part of a period, as Sallust's end of the day.^[1] It is the highest degree, extrēmum malōrum, the worst of evils, and in the plural a desperate plight, in extrēmīs is at the point of death.^[1]

In Medieval Latin extrēmum is also an adverb, “finally”.^[2]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the outside of a stone.^[1][2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of limits, ends and extremes.^[1][2]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of the end of the day.^[1][2]
• 816 – A Frisian charter as an adverb, “finally”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The furthest part, limit, edge; the outside; the tip, (plural) the extremities.^[1][2]
2. The end (of an activity, a text, an argument); ad extrēmum, to the end, finally.^[1][2]
3. The last part (of a period of time).^[1]
4. The utmost degree, (plural) desperate straits, in extrēmīs, at the point of death.^[1][2]

Adverb

1. (Medieval Latin) Finally, at last.^[2]

Related words

• extrēmus
• exter
• ex

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill