maximum
Definitions
General English
- noun the greatest possible number or amount
General Science
- noun the greatest possible quantity, amount, degree or value
Accounting
- noun the largest possible number, price or quantity
Aviation
- noun the greatest possible quantity, amount, etc.
Computing
- noun the highest value used or that is allowed
Electronics
- The greatest value, quantity, or degree attained or recorded.
- The greatest value a variable, function, curve, or the like, may attain.
- The maximum (3) for a given interval.
Origin & History of “maximum”
Maximum was adopted, via French, from maximum, the neuter form of Latin maximus ‘largest’. this was the superlative of magnus ‘large’ (source of English magnitude, magnum, etc). From the same ultimate source comes maxim (15th c.), which goes back via French maxime to Latin maxima. This was short for maxima prōpositio ‘largest proposition’, a term used in medieval philosophy for a ‘fundamental axiom’.
