# acme
## English
### Alternative forms

* (obsolete) achma, acmè, akme, achme

### Etymology

Directly borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point, high point”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈæk.mi/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Noun

acme (plural acmes)
* A high point: the highest point of any range, the most developed stage of any process, or the culmination of any field or historical period. [c. 1610]
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:apex
** 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, f. 31:The Latin tong, euen whan it was, as the Grecians say, in ακμη, that is, at the hiest pitch of all perfitenesse.
** 1651, William Cartwright, “The Lady Errant”, in Comedies Tragi-comedies with Other Poems:Eum.: Our Loves what are they But howerly Sacrifices, only wanting The prease and tumult of Solemnity? If then i'th' heat and Achme of Devotion We drink a new fiame in, can it be ought But to increase the Worship?
** 1891, George Edward Mannering, With Axe and Rope in the New Zealand Alps, Chapter VII, p. 71:Ah, what a sight burst upon our astonished eyes as we gained its summit! It seemed the very acme of mountain glory in all the glories around us.
** 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:The moment when a certain power reaches the acme of its supremacy.
* A paragon: a person or thing representing such a high point. [c. 1610]
** 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 260–261:The few words of advice she gave him as to escaping political embarrassments, struck him as the acme of wisdom, and as indicating an interest in his well-being of the kindest description;...
* (rare) Full bloom or reproductive maturity.
** 1625 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Staple of Newes. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot […], published 1631, →OCLC, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):He must be one that can instruct your youth, And keep your acme in the state of truth
** 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:The very acme and pitch of life for epic poesy.
* (euphemistic) Sexual orgasm.
** 1963, Albert Ellis, If This Be Sexual Heresy, page 120:[He] then holds back his own climax for another ten or fifteen minutes of active copulation until his mate signals him that she is about to reach her acme; then they both ecstatically erupt together.
** 1987, Jeanne de Berg, Women's Rites:She has enough of the narcissist in her to love exhibiting herself and to have the exhibition itself arouse her and bring her to her acme (that's very literary, even a little affected, but it's a word that pleases me).
** 2012, Alexander Lowen, The Language of the Body: Physical Dynamics of Character Structure:He reached a climax about one minute after penetration and as this was always much sooner than his partner reached her acme this disturbed him.
* (medicine) Synonym of crisis, the decisive moment in the course of an illness.
* Alternative letter-case form of Acme, particularly as a threading format.

#### Derived terms

* acmatic
* acmic
* synacme

#### Translations
### References

* “acme, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
* “acme”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* “acme”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* ECMA, EMAC, Mace, Mače, came, eMac, mace

## Italian
### Etymology

Derived from Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ). Compare French acmé.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈak.me/
* Rhymes: -akme
* Hyphenation: àc‧me

### Noun

acme f or (proscribed) m (plural acmi)
* acme, apex
    Synonyms: apice, culmine, sommità
* (medicine) acme

### References

* ↑ acme in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
* 1 2 acme in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2007

### Further reading

* acme in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana