maxim
/ˈmæk.sɪm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.39 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Alternative letter-case form of Maxim.
name
A surname
noun
The Maxim gun, a British machine gun of various calibres used by the British army from 1889 until World War I.
noun
Any machine gun that derives from the design pattern of Maxim's patented design
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "It was impossible to imagine anything more cold or comfortless, while it was a task of no small dexterity to thread your way through the labyrinth of trunks, bandboxes, &c.; for it had of late years become a maxim with Lady Anne that nothing ought to be thrown or given away:..."
- "Those maxims lurch through my head like rivers of lava. Those smarmy, know-it-all maxims. Trivia disguised as deeply held wisdom."
- "Again we went on, and climbed the false immensity of another ridge, when several rifles and a maxim opened upon us, and very close they were."
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 prōpositiō maxima (“greatest premise”)). Doublet of maxima.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmæk.sɪm/
- British English: /ˈmæk.sɪm/