Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or consisting of a maximum.
  • adjective Being the greatest or highest possible.
  • noun An element in an ordered set that is followed by no other.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of the highest or maximum value, etc.; being a maximum.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Largest, greatest (in magnitude), highest, most.
  • noun mathematics The element of a set with the greatest magnitude.
  • noun mathematics Said of an ideal of a ring or a filter of a lattice: that it is as large as it can be without being trivial (improper).
  • noun logic Said of a set of well-formed formulas: that it is as large as it can be without being inconsistent; i.e., that for any wff φ, the set contains either φ or ~φ.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective the greatest or most complete or best possible

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

maximum + -al

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Examples

  • Another route to estimating daily calcium requirements is called the maximal retention study.

    Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy M.D. Walter C. Willett 2005

  • Another route to estimating daily calcium requirements is called the maximal retention study.

    Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy M.D. Walter C. Willett 2005

  • Maybe so, but I’m inclined to think that they were trying to maintain maximal fidelity to the original, rather than adjusting the transcription to what they inferred the 1787 standard to be.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Error in Many Versions of the United States Constitution 2010

  • Next time don’t use the word maximal and then get on others for sarcastically using the word you used.

    “Give me liberty or give me social justice” revisited 2010

  • And should so-called maximal essentialism really count as a form of essentialism?

    Essential vs. Accidental Properties Robertson, Teresa 2008

  • The Axiom of Choice is closely allied to a group of mathematical propositions collectively known as maximal principles.

    The Axiom of Choice Bell, John L. 2008

  • It suggests and helps to secure a state of affairs in which the definition of public policy is never carried through in abstraction from the variety of actual convictions that is evidenced in society – not because any one of these asserts its right to dictate, but because all claim the freedom to join in public argument in ways that insist on the need for what I have been calling maximal ownership.

    The Building Bridges Conference, Singapore 2007

  • It suggests and helps to secure a state of affairs in which the definition of public policy is never carried through in abstraction from the variety of actual convictions that is evidenced in society – not because any one of these asserts its right to dictate, but because all claim the freedom to join in public argument in ways that insist on the need for what I have been calling maximal ownership.

    The Building Bridges Conference, Singapore 2007

  • However, cardiorespiratory fitness -- defined as maximal oxygen consumption -- did not change significantly between the groups.

    MedPageToday.com - medical news plus CME for physicians 2010

  • However, cardiorespiratory fitness -- defined as maximal oxygen consumption -- did not change significantly between the groups.

    MedPageToday.com - medical news plus CME for physicians 2010

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