Extremes

How to spell extremes

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce extremes

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does extremes mean?

1. nounThe points or conditions furthest from the centre or norm, especially the two opposite limits of a range.

Extremes in a sentence

• The desert climate swings between extremes of heat by day and cold by night.

• Her budget plan avoids the extremes of reckless spending and harsh austerity.

Where does extremes come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin extremus, meaning 'outermost' or 'furthest', which was the superlative form of exter, 'outward' or 'on the outside'. Latin used it for whatever stood at the very edge or end of something, whether in space, time, or degree. It travelled into English through Old French as 'extreme' in the fifteenth century, keeping the sense of a point as far as possible from the centre or norm. The plural 'extremes' came to name the two opposite ends of a range, as in the extremes of hot and cold. The same exter root sits inside 'exterior' and 'external', a reminder that the heart of the word is simply 'the outside'.

How the word is built

• extrem- (from Latin extremus: outermost, last)
• -es (plural suffix)