Etymograph

English

maxim

Maxim comes from Late Latin maxima ‘axiom’, from Latin maximus ‘biggest, largest’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s ‘great’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂s1‘great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*magisVmos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaximus2‘biggest, largest’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmaxima2‘axiom’noun use of feminine singular form of maximus
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400maxime2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1776maxim2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin maximus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English maxim
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1776, Wealth of Nations: “In every age and country of the world men…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂sWiktionary, Latin maximus‘great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*magisVmosWiktionary, Latin maximusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaximusWiktionary, English maxim‘biggest, largest’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmaximaWiktionary, English maxim‘axiom’noun use of feminine singular form of maximus
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400maximeWiktionary, English maxim
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1776maximWiktionary, English maxim. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1776, Wealth of Nations: “In every age and country of the world men…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s ‘great’

major, master, mayor, magnitude, magnum, magnate, magnify, mair, mickle, maggiore, muckle, mahila, 15 more

Today it means

noun A self-evident axiom or premise; a pithy expression of a general principle or rule.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “maxim”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin maximus. 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-Indo-European *méǵh₂s / maxim

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