maxim

See also Maxim

English

WOTD - 13 November 2009    

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman maxime and Middle French maxime, from Late Latin maxima (“axiom”), noun use of the feminine singular form of Latin maximus (apparently as used in the phrase propositio maxima "greatest premise").

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈmak.sɪm/
• (US) IPA: /ˈmæk.,sɪm/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

maxim (plural maxims)

1. (now rare) A self-evident axiom or premise; a pithy expression of a general principle or rule.
2. A precept; a succinct statement or observation of a rule of conduct or moral teaching.
   • 1776, Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, page 768:

     In every age and country of the world men must have attended to the characters, designs, and actions of one another, and many reputable rules and maxims for the conduct of human life, must have been laid down and approved of by common consent.

Synonyms

• (precept, succint statement): aphorism, cliche enthymeme, proverb, saying
• See also Wikisaurus:saying

Translations

moral precept

Chinese: Mandarin: 格言 (zh) (géyán), 箴言 (zh) (zhēnyán), 金言 (zh) (jīnyán), 座右銘 (zh), 座右铭 (zh) (zuòyòumíng), 警句 (zh) (jǐngjù) Czech: maxim (cs) m., poučka (cs) f. Danish: maksime (da) c. Esperanto: maksimo (eo) Finnish: maksiimi (fi) French: maxime (fr) f. German: Maxime (de) f.

Italian: massima (it) f., principio (it) m. Japanese: 格言(かくげん, kakugen) Macedonian: начело (mk) (náčelo) n., максима (mk) (maksíma) f. Norwegian: maksime (no) m. Portuguese: máxima (pt) f. Romanian: maximă (ro) f., maxime (ro) f. pl. Spanish: máxima (es) f. Swedish: maxim (sv) c.

See also

• adage
• aphorism
• apophthegm

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Ido

Adverb

maxim

1. most

Antonyms

• minim