maximal

American  

[mak-suh-muhl] / ˈmæk sə məl /

adjective

1. of or being a maximum; greatest possible; highest.

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maximal British  

/ ˈmæksɪməl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or achieving a maximum; being the greatest or best possible

2. maths (of a member of an ordered set) being preceded, in order, by all other members of the set

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Other Word Forms

• maximally
  adverb
• postmaximal
  adjective
• submaximal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of maximal

First recorded in 1880–85; maxim(um) + -al ¹

Explanation

Maximal means the greatest, best, or largest amount of something. The maximal speed of your friend's junky car might be forty miles per hour. The adjective maximal is the opposite of the more common minimal. Your idea of sleeping in maximal comfort might include a soft comforter and lots of pillows, and you might try, when you're running on a treadmill, to get your heartbeat to its maximal rate for several minutes. Maximal has a Latin root, maximus, or "greatest," which in turn comes from magnus, "great or large."

Example Sentences

"Maximal entanglement inside the proton emerges as a consequence of strong interactions that produce a large number of quark-antiquark pairs and gluons," he said.

From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024

Maximal heart rate — the peak rate at which an individual’s heart beats — varies from person to person and is age-dependent.

From Washington Post • Nov. 26, 2022

Their friendship feels real; their romance as unlikely as the food served at Maximal.

From New York Times • May 29, 2019

They were overjoyed to escape Mom’s Tyranny of Maximal Fun.

From Slate • May 8, 2018

Maximal measurements, respectively, are: length of plastron, 172 and 180 mm; length of carapace, 238 and 263 mm; width of carapace, 203 and 218 mm; width of head, 28 and? mm.

From Description of a New Softshell Turtle From the Southeastern United States by Webb, Robert G.