extremity

CEFRB2

/ɪkˈstɹɛmɪti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The furthest or most serious point of something.

  2. 02

    noun

    A hand, foot, arm, or leg.

Examples

  • He was driven to the last extremity.

  • Guillain–Barré syndrome causes one to not be able to move one’s extremities.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
3

Also pronounced

  • /-ɾi/
  • /ɛk-/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A hand or foot.

  2. An extreme measure.

  3. The most extreme or furthest point of something.

More examples

In context

  • [B]eſtowe your love on him, who, were it not to do you ſervice, would through the extremitie of love rather wiſh to die then live.

  • Any ſphere revolving as on an axis, muſt have two points on its ſurface at the extremities of its axis, that do not revolve at all; theſe points, with reſpect to the Earth, are called its poles.

  • The danger of wounds of the extremities consists in the injury done to the blood-vessels, nerves, articulations, and bones.

Synonyms

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Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English extremite, from Old French extremité, from Latin extrēmitātem (“extremity; border, perimeter; ending”), from extrēmīs (“furthest, extreme”) + -itās (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being); see extreme. Extrēmīs is derived from exter (“external, outward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -issimus (superlative suffix) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-is- (comparative suffix) + *-(t)m̥mo- (absolutive case suffix)).