apex
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Latin apex (“point, tip, summit”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈeɪ.pɛks/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪpɛks
Noun
[edit]apex (plural apices or apexes)
- The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- (geometry) The highest point in a plane or solid figure, relative to a base line or plane.
- (chiefly anatomy) The pointed fine end of something.
- 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.
- The deepest part of a tooth's root.
- The lowest part of the human heart.
- (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ opposed to the end where it is attached to its support.
- Synonym: tip
- (botany) The growing point of a shoot.
- (astronomy) The point on the celestial sphere toward which the Sun appears to move relative to nearby stars.
- Hyponym: solar apex
- (physics) The lowest point on a pendant drop of a liquid.
- (mining, US) The end or edge of a vein nearest the surface.
- (typography):
- A diacritic in Classical Latin that resembles and gave rise to the acute.
- A diacritic in Middle Vietnamese that indicates /ŋ͡m/.
- 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
- (motor racing) The part of a corner where the racing line is nearest the inside of the bend.
- An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a triangular corner fence.
- (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.
- (attributive, ecology) The top of the food chain.
- A conical priest cap.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:apex
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]highest or greatest part
|
highest point in a plane or solid figure
|
the point on the celestial sphere toward which the Sun appears to move relative to nearby stars
|
pointed fine end
end of leaf
moment of greatest success, expansion, etc
|
diacritic in Middle Vietnamese
|
References
[edit]- “apex”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “apex”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “apex”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “apex”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Latin
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Italic *apeks, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, fit”). Cognate with Latin apō (“to fasten, join, tie to”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈa.peks/, [ˈäpɛks̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈa.peks/, [ˈäːpeks]
Noun
[edit]apex m (genitive apicis); third declension
- The extreme end of a thing; the point, summit, top.
- (literally) The small rod (generally of olive wood) at the top of the flamen's cap, wound around with a woolen cord or "thread".
- (transferred sense):
- The conical leathern cap of an ancient Roman priest (the Flamen), ornamented with this rod.
- Any hat or helmet; a crown.
- (literally) A projecting point or summit.
- (figurative) The highest ornament or honor; the crown of a thing.
- (grammar) The macron (long mark over a vowel).
- A letter or any other writing.
- (Ecclesiastical Latin, figurative) (of the point or apex of a Hebrew letter) The least particle, tittle.
Inflection
[edit]Third-declension noun.
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | apex | apicēs |
genitive | apicis | apicum |
dative | apicī | apicibus |
accusative | apicem | apicēs |
ablative | apice | apicibus |
vocative | apex | apicēs |
Descendants
[edit]Descendants
References
[edit]- “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’s 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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]apex n (plural apexuri)
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | ||
nominative-accusative | apex | apexul | apexuri | apexurile | |
genitive-dative | apex | apexului | apexuri | apexurilor | |
vocative | apexule | apexurilor |
Further reading
[edit]- apex in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/eɪpɛks
- Rhymes:English/eɪpɛks/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with collocations
- en:Geometry
- en:Anatomy
- English terms with quotations
- en:Botany
- en:Astronomy
- en:Physics
- en:Mining
- American English
- en:Typography
- en:Motor racing
- en:Ecology
- Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin third declension nouns
- Latin masculine nouns in the third declension
- Latin masculine nouns
- Latin terms with transferred senses
- la:Grammar
- Ecclesiastical Latin
- Romanian terms borrowed from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- ro:Geometry
- ro:Astronomy