max English · revision 4177

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1851|origins=la maximum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mæks/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a clipping of [[maximum]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) The verb, “to reach the maximum level”, is from the noun,^(SOED 2002) or, in Etymonline's view, from [[maximize]] and related words.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ At some American colleges, a maximum score or achievement, especially in an examination: 1851.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an abbreviation written before a noun, “maximum”, it is from 1886,^(OED 1989) and the general noun, a maximum, from 1911, especially in ''to the max'', “to the limit, totally”, chiefly North American.^(OED 1989) A maximum-security prison is a max from 1968.^(OED 1989) As an adverb, “at the most”, it is from 1976,^(OED 1989) American colloquial.^(SOED 2002) The verb is American: to serve the full length of a prison sentence, ''to max out'', from 1871,^(OED 1989) and “to reach the maximum level” by 1986.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1851 – a maximum score.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1871 – ''max out'', to serve a full sentence.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1886 – abbreviation for maximum.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1911 – a maximum, and ''to the max''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1976 – adverb, at the most.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1986 – verb, to reach the maximum.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' The [[maximum]]: ''pushed the engine to the max''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(informal)'' [[Maximal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(informal)'' At the most: ''an hour, max''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To reach one's limit, as of endurance, often with ''out''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' To use something to its limit: ''maxed out the credit card''.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[max out]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[maximum]]

+ * [[maximal]]

+ * [[maximize]]

+ * [[minimum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different max, recorded from 1811 to the mid-19th century, meant gin;^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) its origin is unknown,^(SOED 2002) although Etymonline takes it as apparently short for French maxime.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}