Etymograph

English

extremum

Extremum comes from Latin extrēmus ‘extreme in degree’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *eksterisemos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eksterisemos1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEextrēmus2‘extreme in degree’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEextrēmum2neuter form of extrēmus
  4. Englishtodayextremum2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin extremus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English extremum

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eksterisemosWiktionary, Latin extremusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEextrēmusWiktionary, English extremum‘extreme in degree’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEextrēmumWiktionary, English extremumneuter form of extrēmus
  4. EnglishtodayextremumWiktionary, English extremum

Every English word from Proto-Italic *eksterisemos

Today it means

noun A point, or value that is a maximum or a minimum.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “extremum”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin extremus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *eksterisemos / extremum

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