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▪ I. maxim, n.1|ˈmæksɪm|
Also 5–7 maxime, 6 pl. erron. maximies.
[a. F. maxime, ad. L. maxima fem. sing. of maximus greatest, used ellipt. (see below). Cf. Sp. máxima, Pg. maxima, It. massima.
Boethius (6th c.) used propositio maxima (‘greatest proposition’) in the sense of ‘axiom’ (synonymous with dignitas = ἀξίωµα, but especially used with reference to rhetoric). Albertus Magnus (12th c.) used maxima with ellipsis of propositio, but applied it to a class of universal propositions not intuitively certain like the dignitates or axioms, but capable of being assumed as practically indisputable. Elsewhere (according to Hamilton in Reid's Wks. 767, where the reference is incorrect) he identifies maxima and dignitas; and Petrus Hispanus and later logicians use maxima in the sense of ‘axiom’.]
†1. An axiom; a self-evident proposition assumed as a premiss in mathematical or dialectical reasoning. Obs.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 5603 Thys greueth me most at al, That my maxime apryved [sc. that the whole is greater than its part] Ye in dede han yt reprevyd. Ibid. 6000. 1556 Recorde Castle Knowl. 108 Then takinge that for a maxime in argumente, I annexe this minor, that [etc.]. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iv. vii. §1. 299 There are a sort of Propositions, which under the name of Maxims and Axioms, have passed for Principles of Science. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. vi. 209 It is urged as an universal Maxim, That Nothing can procede from Nothing.
2. a. A proposition (esp. in aphoristic or sententious form) ostensibly expressing some general truth of science or of experience.
1594Drayton Idea 391 In ev'ry thing I hold this Maxim still, The Circumstance doth make it good, or ill. 1605Verstegan Dec. Intell. iv. (1628) 98 This maxime or principle must be granted. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 318 This maxime out of loue I teach: Atchieuement is command. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 214 What seriously exerciseth one Mans Braine to defend as a Maxime, tickleth anothers Diaphragme no lesse than an Epigram. 1770G. White Selborne iii, I lay it down as a maxim in ornithology, that as long as there is any incubation going on there is music. 1827Coleridge Table-t. 24 June, A Maxim is a conclusion upon observation of matters of fact. 1874Blackie Self-Cult. 89 The maxim that knowledge is power is true only where knowledge is the main thing wanted.
b. esp. in Law.
1567R. Mulcaster Fortescue's De Laud. Leg. (1672) 21 b, They are certaine universall propositions which they that be learned in the Laws of England, and likewise the Mathematicals, do terme Maximes. 1590Swinburne Testaments 59 It is a maxime in the common lawes of this realme, that he that is outlawed doeth forfeite all his goods. 1628Coke On Litt. 67 A maxime is a proposition, to be of all men confessed & granted. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 199 It is an antient maxim of the law, that no title is completely good, unless the right of possession be joined with the right of property. 1893Weekly Notes 67/2 He considered at length the meaning of the maxim, ‘a man's house is his castle’.
3. A rule or principle of conduct; also, a precept of morality or prudence expressed in sententious form. spec. Used of precepts of morality or prudence occurring in Old English verse.
1579G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 66 Is not this the principall fundation and grande maxim of our cuntry pollicy not to be over hasty in occupying a mans talent [etc.]. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Ded. 9 All great Captaines..have holden for a Maxime, to preserue by all meanes possible the liues of their soldiers. 1640Howell Dodona's Gr. 6 Selfe defence hath beene alwaies held the first maxime of policy. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. v. 258 Some think it beneath a wise man to alter their opinion: A maxime both false and dangerous. 1709Steele Tatler No. 47 ⁋1, I knew a Gentleman that made it a Maxim to open his Doors and ever run into the Way of Bullies. 1757Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 494, I have all along laid it down as a maxim, to represent facts freely and impartially. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca ii. xvii. 173 The art of comprising moral maxims in short sentences. 1830S. Cooper Dict. Pract. Surg. (ed. 6) 817 All prudent surgeons..have laid it down as an invariable maxim, never to..undertake lithotomy, without having first introduced a metallic instrument. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Valley iii. 35 Her maxim was, that it was time enough to come when she was called. 1868C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) I. xvi. 117 He wrote a book of maxims, even on etiquette. 1883H. M. Kennedy tr. B. ten Brink's Hist. Eng. Lit. I. 64 The poet is fond of beginning a new maxim or a chain of them with the second half of a verse. 1892S. A. Brooke Hist. Early Eng. Lit. II. 277 The Gnomic Verses..consist of folk-proverbs, maxims, short descriptions of human life, [etc.]. 1896R. G. Moulton Ecclesiasticus Introd. 12 The Maxim is the prose counterpart to the Epigram. 1902Jrnl. Eng. & Germ. Philol. IV. 477 The Wife's Complaint..closes with a general maxim deduced from the sad experiences of the once happy couple. 1966S. B. Greenfield in E. G. Stanley Continuations & Beginnings 143 The diction of secular gnomes or maxims.
4. attrib., as maxim-maker, maxim-making, maxim-monger.
1806M. Edgeworth Leonora (1833) 47 Some maxim-maker says that past misfortunes are good for nothing but to be forgotten. 1851Helps Comp. Solit. v. (1874) 64 Cleverly put, but untrue, after the fashion of you maxim-mongers. 1895Daily News 19 Apr. 5/1 Maxim-making was a favourite game in French society.
▪ II. † ˈmaxim, a. and n.3 Obs.
[ad. L. maximus.]
A. adj. = greatest (in certain technical uses).
1686Goad Celest. Bodies iii. iii. 442 Conjunctions maxime in the Fiery and Watry Trigons,..are above our reach. 1694Phil. Trans. XVIII. 72 He concludes this Discourse with a Table, containing all the Notes and Intervals, explaining how each of those in the Diatonick Scale are composed of those three Degrees, viz. Minor, Major, and Maxim.
B. n.3 Mus. = large n. 4, maxima 2.
In recent Dicts. |