maximal
/ˈmæksɪməl/adjective, noun
maximal is spelled M-A-X-I-M-A-L: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, maximal means “Largest, greatest (in magnitude), highest, most” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in maximal?
| Letters | 7: M-A-X-I-M-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is maximal?
Maximal appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce maximal?
- /ˈmæksɪməl/
Maximal has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-maximal.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of maximal
- max.
- maximals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does maximal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Largest, greatest (in magnitude), highest, most.
- 2
Larger than any previous term in the sequence.
In the sequence (1, 2, 10, 5, 12, 6), the fifth term, f(5) = 12, is a maximal term, as each of the first 4 terms are smaller than 12.
- 3
Such that no other element is greater (with respect to the given partial order).
With respect to the ordering induced by set-theoretic inclusion, the set #92;#123;#92;#123;2#92;#125;,#92;#123;1,2#92;#125;,#92;#123;2,3#92;#125;#92;#125; has two maximal elements: #92;#123;1,2#92;#125; and #92;#123;2,3#92;#125;
noun
- 1
The element of a set with the greatest magnitude.
- 2
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).
- 3
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 well-formed formula φ, the set contains either φ or ~φ.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate maximal?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of maximal: max..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Maximal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense largest, greatest, highest, most:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does maximal come from?
From maximum + -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).