# extremity

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɪkˈstɹɛmɪti/ · frequency rank #28,916

## Definitions
1. The most extreme or furthest point of something.
2. An extreme measure.
3. A hand or foot.
4. A limb (“major appendage of a human or animal such as an arm, leg, or wing”).

## Etymology
From Middle English extremite, from Old French extremité, from Latin extrēmitātem (“extremity; border, perimeter; ending”), from extrēmīs (“furthest, extreme”) + -itās (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being); see extreme. Extrēmīs is derived from exter (“external, outward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -issimus (superlative suffix) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-is- (comparative suffix) + *-(t)m̥mo- (absolutive case suffix)).

## Easily confused with
- **extremely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/extremely-vs-extremity)
- **extremist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/extremist-vs-extremity)
- **extremism** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/extremism-vs-extremity)

## Common misspellings (14)
`etxremity`, `exrtemity`, `extermity`, `extreimty`, `extremitty`, `extremityy`, `extremiyt`, `extremmity`, `extremtiy`, `extrmeity`, `extrremity`, `exttremity`, `exxtremity`, `xetremity`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/extremity