Maximise

How to spell maximise

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce maximise

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does maximise mean?

1. verbTo make something as large, effective, or great as possible.

Maximise in a sentence

• The new shelving was designed to maximise storage in the small office.

• Investors want to maximise their returns without taking on extra risk.

Where does maximise come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word was built in English from the Latin maximus, meaning 'greatest', which is the superlative of magnus, meaning 'great' or 'large'. The same maximus root gives us the noun 'maximum' for the highest possible amount, and it is a cousin of words like 'magnify' and 'magnitude', all carrying the idea of bigness. The verb itself is fairly modern, coined around the late eighteenth century to mean 'to make as great as possible'. The ending comes from the verb-forming suffix that English took, by way of French -iser, from the Greek -izein. In British usage the suffix is conventionally spelled -ise, and that final s, rather than the z seen in American 'maximize', is the spelling point worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• maxim- (from Latin maximus: greatest)
• -ise (verb-forming suffix)

British and American spelling

Maximise is the British spelling. American English spells it maximize.