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apex

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Apex, APEX, ápex, and àpex

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep-der.
Proto-Italic *apeks
Latin apexbor.
English apex

    Borrowed from Latin apex (“point, tip, summit”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    apex (plural apices or apexes)

    1. The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
      Synonyms: peak, top, summit, vertex
      the apex of the building
      1. (geometry) The highest point in a plane or solid figure, relative to a base line or plane.
      2. (chiefly anatomy) The pointed fine end of something.
        Synonyms: end, tip
        1. The lowest part of the human heart.
          • 1951 March, J. H. Lehmann, A. D. Johnson, W. C. Bridges, J. Michel, D. M. Green, “Cardiac Catheterization—A Diagnostic Aid in Congenital Heart Disease”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 175:
            B.P. 118/68. Grade I diastolic murmur best heard over apex. Patient well and had no complaints referable to heart. Origin of the diastolic murmur is open to conjecture.
        3. The deepest part of a tooth's root.
      3. (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ opposed to the end where it is attached to its support.
        Synonym: tip
      4. (botany) The growing point of a shoot.
      5. (astronomy) The point on the celestial sphere toward which the Sun appears to move relative to nearby stars.
        Hyponym: solar apex
      6. (physics) The lowest point on a pendant drop of a liquid.
      7. (mining, US) The end or edge of a vein nearest the surface.
      8. (typography):
        1. A diacritic in Classical Latin that resembles and gave rise to the acute.
        2. A diacritic in Middle Vietnamese that indicates /ŋ͡m/.
        3. A sharp upward point formed by two strokes that meet at an acute angle, as in "W", uppercase "A", and closed-top "4", or by a tapered stroke, as in lowercase "t".
          Coordinate term: vertex
      9. (motor racing) The part of a corner where the racing line is nearest the inside of the bend.
        Drone cameras show that his car reached the apex first.
      10. (romance, euphemistic) A woman's crotch and sex organs.
        • 2014 April 6, Kathi S. Barton, Brock, World Castle Publishing, LLC, →ISBN:
          Licking her apex, he slid his hand up between her legs and slid his fingers into her heat.
        • 2016 February 9, Rhonda Leibel, Princess' Knight, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:
          He opened them, and smiled slightly, as he moved his hand to her hip, and caressed his way to her apex, lightly stroking her through her dress.
        • 2021 December 9, Catherine Edward, Husband Undercover: A Phantom Agent Novel, Catherine Edward, →ISBN:
          While his fingers retreated, the ache she felt in her apex had only grown, wanting more.
    2. An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a triangular corner fence.
    3. (figuratively) The moment of greatest success, expansion, etc.
      Synonyms: acme, culmination, height, peak, pinnacle
      the apex of civilization
      • 2002, Jeffrey Rowland, “Day 2 (The Slagathors)”, in Wigu Adventures‎[1], page 58:
        It would be an intense disgust. The absolute apex of teen angst.
      • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire:
        The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished.
      • 2020 November 7, Yuval Noah Harari, “At Home With Our Ancient Cousins, the Neanderthals”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 8 March 2021:
        Neanderthals force us to question the belief that Homo sapiens is the apex of creation and, more generally, what it means to be human.
    4. (attributive, ecology) The top of the food chain.
    5. A conical priest cap.

    Synonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    References

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    Latin

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    Latin Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia la

    Etymology

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      From Proto-Italic *apeks, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, fit”). De Vaan approches this connection with caution since a link with apiō is through some meanings feasible in addition to the observation that most ex, -icis are technical terms without Indo-European origin.[1]

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      apex m (genitive apicis); third declension

      1. The extreme end of a thing; the point, summit, top.
        Synonyms: cacūmen, summa, fastīgium, culmen, vertex, summitās
        Antonym: fundus
      2. (literally) The small rod (generally of olive wood) at the top of the flamen's cap, wound around with a woolen cord or "thread".
      3. (transferred sense):
        1. The conical leathern cap of an ancient Roman priest (the Flamen), ornamented with this rod.
        2. Any hat or helmet; a crown.
        3. (literally) A projecting point or summit.
          1. (figurative) The highest ornament or honor; the crown of a thing.
        4. (grammar) The macron (long mark over a vowel).
        5. (orthography) The tilde.
        6. A letter or any other writing.
          1. The forms or outlines of the letters.
        7. (Ecclesiastical Latin, figurative) (of the point or apex of a Hebrew letter) The least particle, tittle.

      Inflection

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      Third-declension noun.

      singular plural
      nominative apex apicēs
      genitive apicis apicum
      dative apicī apicibus
      accusative apicem apicēs
      ablative apice apicibus
      vocative apex apicēs

      Descendants

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      Descendants
      • → Catalan: àpex
      • → English: apex
      • → French: apex
      • → Galician: ápice
      • → German: Apex
      • → Italian: apice
      • → Portuguese: ápice, ápex
      • → Romanian: apex
      • → Spanish: ápice, ápex

      References

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      1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “apex, -icis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 46-47
      • “apex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • “apex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • "apex", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
      • “apex”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
      • “apex”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • “apex”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

      Romanian

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      Etymology

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      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep-der.
      Proto-Italic *apeks
      Latin apexlbor.
      Romanian apex

        Learned borrowing from Latin apex.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        apex n (plural apexuri)

        1. (geometry) apex
        2. (astronomy) apex

        Declension

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        singular plural
        indefinite definite indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative apex apexul apexuri apexurile
        genitive-dative apex apexului apexuri apexurilor
        vocative apexule apexurilor

        Further reading

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