extrema ratio

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin extrēma ratiō, a variant of ultima ratiō, from the phrase ultima ratiō rēgum (“last resort of the kings”) that King Louis XIV of France had inscribed on the cannons made in 1650, and the similar one, ultima ratiō rēgis (“last resort of the king”), put by King Frederick II of Prussia on cannons after 1742, both almost certainly inspired by Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca, who, in one of his works of comedy, defined artillery as ultima razón de Reyes (“last resort of kings”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ekˈstrɛ.ma ˈrat.t͡sjo/
• Rhymes: -attsjo
• Hyphenation: ex‧trè‧ma‧rà‧tio

Noun

extrema ratio f (invariable)

1. last resort

   Synonyms: (uncommon) ultima ratio, ultima spiaggia

   • 1859, “Memorie originali”, in Lo sperimentale, ovvero Giornale critico di medicina e chirurgia per servire ai bisogni dell'arte salutare - Anno XI. - Serie quarta. - Tomo IV.‎^[1], Florence, page 108:

     Essendo quì l’operazione Cesarea considerata come l’extrema ratio, un pis aller […]

     Being the Caesarean operation considered as the last resort here, a pis aller […]

Further reading

• extrema ratio in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana