Maximum

How to spell maximum

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce maximum

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does maximum mean?

1. nounThe greatest amount, quantity, or degree that is possible or permitted.
2. adjectiveBeing the greatest or highest in amount, size, or degree.

Maximum in a sentence

• noun

  The bridge has a weight maximum of forty tonnes.

• adjective

  The motorway has a maximum speed of seventy miles per hour.

• noun

  Savers can deposit a maximum of ten thousand pounds each year.

• adjective

  We ran the engine at maximum power during the test.

Where does maximum come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin maximum, which is the neuter form of maximus, meaning 'greatest' or 'largest'. That superlative was built on magnus, the ordinary Latin word for 'great' or 'large', the same root that gives us 'magnify', 'magnitude' and 'magnate'. English adopted the Latin form directly in the early 1700s, originally in mathematical and scientific writing for the highest value a quantity could reach. Because it was taken in wholesale from Latin rather than reshaped through French, it kept the unusual -um ending that still trips writers who expect a plainer finish. The opposite term, 'minimum', arrived by exactly the same path from minimus, 'smallest', which is why the two words mirror each other so neatly.

How the word is built

• maxim- (from Latin maximus: greatest)
• -um (Latin neuter noun ending)