maxim

Forms

maxim m or n (feminine singular maximă, masculine plural maximi, feminine/neuter plural maxime)^[1]

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Latin maximus (“greatest”), borrowed from French maxime or French maxima: DEX, MDA2 and DLR name the Latin and French models together, while Marcu and Maneca give Latin alone and Wiktionary French alone.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin word is the superlative of magnus (“great”).^[5][6][7] Graur lists the word in the family of the Latin adjective, beside mai and major.^[8]

The neuter noun with the plural ⟨maximuri⟩, meaning “maximum”, is DEX's first homograph.^[2] DEX, MDA2 and DLR derive it from Romanian maximum, reshaped after the adjective.^[2][3][4] That noun is from Latin maximum and French maximum.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Laurian and Massim's Latinist dictionary has it as massimu “the greatest, or very great”, the opposite of minimu, and the neuter used as a noun, massimulu caldurei “the maximum of heat”.^[9] DLR's first quotations come from Duiliu Zamfirescu's Viața la țară for the noun, and I. I. Mironescu for the adjective, which MDA2 dates by the editions it used, of 1939 and 1953.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun was the first to reach the general dictionaries: Șăineanu defines maxim as the highest degree a thing can reach, the greatest possible amount, and a price above which a good may not be sold, as in legea maximului “the law of the maximum”.^[10] CADE adds the legal sense, the heaviest penalty the law sets for a case.^[11] Scriban has the adjective, with examples such as the greatest force or speed, opposed to minim.^[6]

The feminine maximă became a noun of mathematics, the greatest value of a variable or function in an interval, and of meteorology, a centre of high pressure.^[2][12] The neuter noun is now rare beside maximum.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1871-1876 – massimu, adjective and neuter noun, in Laurian and Massim's dictionary.^[9]
• 1929 – the noun maxim “highest degree; maximum price” in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[10]
• 1931 – the legal sense “heaviest penalty” in CADE.^[11]
• 1939 – the adjective in Scriban's dictionary.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Greatest in size, duration, intensity or value; very great, maximal; the opposite of minim.^[2][3]
2. ilustrată maximă: a maximum card, a picture postcard whose image, stamp and postmark match.^[12]

Noun

1. (feminine maximă, mathematics) The greatest value a function or variable takes in a given interval.^[2][3]
2. (feminine maximă, meteorology) A centre of high atmospheric pressure.^[2][12]
3. (neuter, plural maximuri, rare) Maximum: the upper limit, the greatest amount or intensity.^[2][4]

Related words

• maximum
• maximal
• minim
• Latin maximus

Usage notes

DEX enters two words: maxim¹, a rare neuter noun with the plural maximuri, formed on maximum after the adjective, and maxim², the adjective with its feminine noun maximă, from Latin and French;^[2][3][4] MDA2 and DLR do the same.^[2][3][4] This entry covers both, since the noun was formed after the adjective.^[2] Older dictionaries give the neuter the plural maxime.^[13][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 625
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1444
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. maxim
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. maxim
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 782
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 59
9. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. massimu
10. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 391
11. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. maxim
12. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. maxim
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 30