maximum
max·i·mum/ˈmæksɪməm/noun, adjective
maximum is spelled M-A-X-I-M-U-M, 3 syllables: max·i·mum. The wrong spelling people search most is maxium: about 410 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Maximum is a noun meaning “The highest limit”. The plural of maximum is maxima or maximums.
How many letters and syllables are in maximum?
| Letters | 7: M-A-X-I-M-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: max·i·mum |
| In writing | 40 times per million words; the 2,487th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, maxium, about 410 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell maximum?
Maximum is spelled M-A-X-I-M-U-M. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for maximum in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is maximum?
Maximum appears 40 times per million words in written English, the 2,487th 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 maximum?
- /ˈmæksɪməm/
Maximum has 3 syllables, split max·i·mum in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-maximum.ogg, En-au-maximum.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of maximum
- maxima plural
- maximums plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does maximum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The highest limit.
- 2
The greatest value of a set or other mathematical structure, especially the global maximum or a local maximum of a function.
- 3
An upper bound of a set which is also an element of that set.
- 4
The largest value of a batch or sample or the upper bound of a probability distribution.
- 5
A 147 break; the highest possible break.
- 6
colloquialA score of 180 with three darts.
- 7
colloquialA scoring shot for 6 runs.
- 8
colloquialmaximum security
adjective
- 1
To the highest degree.
Use the proper dose for the maximum effect.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate maximum?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of maximum: max, max..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Maximum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | maximum , maximum (plural maxima m or maximums m) , maximal |
| German | Maximum, höchstmöglich , maximal |
| Portuguese | máximo |
| Spanish | máximo, máximum |
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 maximum come from?
Via French from Latin maximum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).