Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Maximum \Max"i*mum\, n.; pl. {Maxima}. [L., neut. from maximus
   the greatest. See {Maxim}.]
   The greatest quantity or value attainable in a given case;
   or, the greatest value attained by a quantity which first
   increases and then begins to decrease; the highest point or
   degree; -- opposed to {minimum}.

         Good legislation is the art of conducting a nation to
         the maximum of happiness, and the minimum of misery.
                                                  --P.
                                                  Colquhoun.

   {Maximum thermometer}, a thermometer that registers the
      highest degree of temperature attained in a given time, or
      since its last adjustment.