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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Extreme

Ex-trēme', a.

adjective

a. [Lat. extremus, superl. of exter, exterus, on the outside, outward; Fr. extrême, Pr. extrem, estrem, Sp. & Pg. extremo, It. estremo.]

  1. At the utmost point, edge, or border; outermost; utmost; furthest; most remote; most distant; at the widest limit. “The extremest verge of the swift brook.” Shak.
  2. Last; final; conclusive; — said of time; as, the extreme hour of life.
  3. The worst or best; most urgent; greatest; highest; as, an extreme case. “The extremest remedy.” Dryden. “Extreme rapidity.” W. Scott.

Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. Shak. 4. (Mus.) Extended or contracted as much as possible; — said of intervals; as, an extreme sharp second; an extreme flat fourth. Extreme unction (Rom. Cath. Church), the anointing of a sick person with oil, just before death. ☞ Although this adjective, being superlative in signification, is not properly subject to comparison, the superlative form not unfrequently occurs, especially in the older writers. “Tried in his extremest state.” Spenser. “Extremest hardships.” Sharp. “Extremest of evils.” Bacon. “Extremest verge of the swift brook.” Shak. “The sea’s extremest borders.” Addison.

Ex-trēme', n.

noun

n. 1. The utmost point or verge of a thing; that part which terminates a body; extremity. 2. Utmost limit or degree that is supposable or tolerable; hence, great necessity; furthest degree; — often in the plural; as, extremes of heat and cold, of virtue and vice. The power of our extremes Hath urged us to them. Chapman. His parsimony went to the extreme of meanness. Bancroft.

  1. (Logic.) Either of the extreme terms of a syllogism, the middle term being interposed between them.
  2. (Math.) The first and last terms of a proportion or series.

In the extreme, as much as possible.