acme

See also: ACME, Acme, and acmé

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point, top”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæk.mi/

  • Audio (UK)

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Noun

acme (plural acmes)

1. The top or highest point; pinnacle; culmination. [c. 1610]
   • 1891, George Edward Mannering, With axe and rope in the New Zealand Alps, Chapter VII, p. 71:

     Ah, what a sight burst upon our astonished eyes as we gained its summit!
     It seemed the very acme of mountain glory in all the glories around us.

   • 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. In Three Books, Dublin; London: Reprinted for A. Dodd, OCLC 1033416756:

     The very acme and pitch of life for epic poesy.

   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening

     The moment when a certain power reaches the acme of its supremacy.

2. (medicine) The crisis or height of a disease.
3. Mature age; full bloom of life.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:apex

Translations

the highest point

• Bulgarian: връхна точка (vrǎhna točka)
• Dutch: hoogtepunt (nl) n
• Finnish: huippu (fi), huippukohta
• French: acmé (fr) f
• German: Höhepunkt (de) m, Gipfel (de) m
• Greek: απόγειο (el) n (apógeio)

• Icelandic: hápunktur (is) m
• Interlingue: cúlmine
• Italian: acme (it) f, climax (it) m, apice (it) m, culmine (it) m
• Russian: пик (ru) m (pik), кульминация (ru) f (kulʹminacija)
• Sanskrit: शिरस् (sa) n (śíras)
• Spanish: acmé (es) m or f, apogeo (es) m, cúspide (es) f
• Swedish: höjdpunkt (sv), kulmen (sv)

the crisis or height of a disease

• Spanish: acmé (es) m or f

full bloom

• Bulgarian: разцвет (bg) (razcvet)
• French: force de l'âge (fr) f
• German: Blüte des Lebens f

• Italian: colmo (it) m, apogeo (it) m
• Russian: расцвет (ru) m (rascvet)
• Swedish: kulm

Further reading

• acme at OneLook Dictionary Search
• acme in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• ECMA, EMAC, Mace, Mače, came, eMac, mace

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Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ).

Noun

acme f (invariable)

1. acme (pinnacle, culmination)

Synonyms

• apice
• culmine
• sommità

Further reading

• acme in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana