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OPTIMUM
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: optima
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Most favorable conditions or greatest degree or amount possible under given circumstances
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("optimum" is a kind of...):
good; goodness (that which is pleasing or valuable or useful)
Derivation:
optimal (most desirable possible under a restriction expressed or implied)
optimise; optimize (make optimal; get the most out of; use best)
optimum (most desirable possible under a restriction expressed or implied)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Most desirable possible under a restriction expressed or implied
Example:
optimal concentration of a drug
Synonyms:
optimal; optimum
Classified under:
Similar:
best ((superlative of 'good') having the most positive qualities)
Derivation:
optimum (most favorable conditions or greatest degree or amount possible under given circumstances)
Context examples:
The Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree is the first-professional, postgraduate degree awarded to the graduates who have completed an osteopathic medicine program which is designed to prepare physicians who are especially concerned with maintaining continuing personal relationships with patients, their families and their optimum interaction with the community environmental patterns.
(Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, NCI Thesaurus)
For example, while computers are currently designed to spend as much time and electricity as necessary in pursuit of absolutely optimum solutions, the new memory device is intended to make a quick decision within particular limits even though the solution generated may not be absolutely optimum.
(Neuromorphic Metallic Nanowire Network Shows Human Brain-Like Functions, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
