max (v.):
"to reach the maximum level," by 1986, colloquial, from maximize or related words.
MAX (n.): mass transit train system in Portland, Oregon; an acronym meaning "Metropolitan Area Express"
MAX: proper noun, referring to a crystal skull that resides with JoAnn Parks in Houston, Texas
maxilla:
"jaw, jawbone," 1676, from L. maxilla "upper jaw," dim. of mala "jaw, cheekbone."
maxim:
"precept, principle," 1426, from M.Fr. maxime, from L.L. maxima, usually in
maxima propositio "axiom," lit. "greatest premise," fem. of maximus "greatest" (see maximum).
Maxim:
single-barreled, water-cooled machine gun, 1885, named for inventor, U.S.-born British engineer Sir Hiram S. Maxim (1840-1916).
Maximilian:
masc. proper name, from L. Maximus and Aemilianus, both proper names. According to Camden, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (1415-93) coined the name and gave it to his son in hopes the boy would grow up to have the virtues of Fabius Maximus and Scipio Aemilianus.
maximum:
1740, from L. maximum, neut. of maximus "greatest," superl. of magnus "great, large" (see magnum).
anticlimax:
"the addition of a particular which suddenly lowers the effect," 1727, coined by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), from anti- + climax. Anticlimactic (also anti-climactic) is attested from 1898.
Betamax:
1975, proprietary name (Sony), from Japanese beta-beta "all over" + max, from Eng. maximum.
climax:
1589, from L.L. climax (gen. climacis), from Gk. klimax "propositions rising in effectiveness," lit. "ladder," from base of klinein "to slope," from PIE base *klei- "to lean" (see lean (v.)). The rhetorical meaning evolved in Eng. through "series of steps by which a goal is achieved," to "escalating steps," to (1789) "high point," a usage credited by the OED "to popular ignorance." The verb is 1835, from the noun. The meaning "orgasm" is first recorded 1918, apparently coined by birth-control pioneer Marie Stopes, as a more accessible word than orgasm.
