acme English · revision 1632

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæk.mi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἀκμή|tr=akmḗ|t=point, highest point, edge]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) which is related to Greek ''akḗ'' “point”.^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline traces it to the Proto-Indo-European root [[m|ine-pro|*h₂eḱ-|alt=*ak-]] “be sharp, rise to a point”.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) In English it was printed in Greek letters until about 1620.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The highest point or culmination in the development of anything (1570).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Greek ''akmē'' also meant the prime of life,^(Etymonline) and early English writers used the word for full bloom or maturity (1620) and for the crisis of a disease (about 1630),^(OED 1989) senses now obsolete or archaic.^(OED 1989) The general sense of a peak or perfection has always been the main one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560s–1570 – the highest point of anything.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1620 – the word stops being written in Greek letters.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1620 – the period of full growth, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1630 – the crisis of a disease, now archaic.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1895 – ''Acme'' screw thread, a modified square thread.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The highest point or stage of something; the [[peak]] or [[summit]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone or something that represents [[perfection]] of its kind.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acne]]

+ * [[acute]]

+ * [[acrid]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}