Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A succinct formulation of a fundamental principle, general truth, or rule of conduct. synonym: saying.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A proposition serving as a rule or guide; a summary statement of an established or accepted principle; a pithy expression of a general rule of conduct or action, whether true or false: as, the maxims of religion or of law; the maxims of worldly wisdom or of avarice; ethical maxims.
- noun In logic, the rule of a commonplace; an ultimate major premise.
- noun An axiom.
- noun Same as
maxima .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An established principle or proposition; a condensed proposition of important practical truth; an axiom of practical wisdom; an adage; a proverb; an aphorism.
- noun (Mus.) The longest note formerly used, equal to two longs, or four breves; a large.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A self-evident
axiom orpremise ; apithy expression of a general principle or rule. - noun A
precept ; asuccinct statement orobservation of arule ofconduct or moral teaching.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun English inventor (born in the United States) who invented the Maxim gun that was used in World War I (1840-1916)
- noun a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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This maxim is a wise guide to a great and simple precaution in life: Never, ever, think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives …
The Psychology of Entrepreneurial Misjudgment, part 1: Biases 1-6 « Isegoria 2008
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This maxim is a wise guide to a great and simple precaution in life: Never, ever, think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives …
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[5] this maxim is as true as ever fell from poetical pen & there has more morality distilled from the waters of Helicon [6] than ever was procured from the withered skulls of metaphysicians or Philosophers.
Letter 51 1793
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And the old ‘first impressions’ maxim is one which cuts both ways, unfortunately for all concerned.
Heal thyself 2009
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This is going to be awesome. anthony gadberry just read about this kid in maxim i think ... interesting story.
David Gordon Green to Make Biopic About Teen Outlaw Colton Harris-Moore | /Film 2010
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Yes, because they completely misunderstood what the beer-before-liquor maxim is about.
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And this time, he likely has a better understanding than ever of the oft-quoted Mark Twain maxim: "Be good and you will be lonesome."
Solo act Shani Davis alone in front with unusual approach 2010
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Note 47: The product of a progymnasmata exercise, gnome, a maxim, is an adaptation (abstraction or elaboration) of a preexisting moral statement.
Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008
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Now, I do agree that a novel should be as long as a novel needs to be, but included within that maxim is the corollary that a novel should never be longer than it needs to be.
He had a Colt .45 and a deck of cards... greygirlbeast 2008
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The flaw in Sagan's maxim is that an extraordinary claim is simply a claim about an extraordinary event and the occurrence of an extraordinary event does not necessarily entail that it would come with extraordinary evidence.
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