Definition of Optimum

1. Noun. Most favorable conditions or greatest degree or amount possible under given circumstances.

Generic synonyms: Good, Goodness
Derivative terms: Optimal, Optimise, Optimize

2. Adjective. Most desirable possible under a restriction expressed or implied. "Optimal concentration of a drug"
Exact synonyms: Optimal
Similar to: Best

Definition of Optimum

1. Noun. The best or most favorable condition, or the greatest amount or degree possible under specific sets of comparable circumstances. ¹

2. Adjective. best or most advantageous; surpassing all others ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Optimum

1. the most favorable condition for obtaining a given result [n -MA or -MUMS]

Medical Definition of Optimum

1. The best or most suitable; e.g., denoting the dose of a remedy likely to give most benefit with fewest side effects, the temperature or pH at which an enzyme has maximal activity. Origin: L. Ntr. Sing. Of optimus, best (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Optimum

optimist
optimistic
optimistically
optimists
optimity
optimizable
optimization
optimization problem
optimizations
optimize
optimized
optimizer
optimizers
optimizes
optimizing
optimum (current term)
optimum dose
optimum pH
optimum temperature
optimums
optineurin
opting
opting in
opting out
option
optionable
optionaire
optionaires
optional

Literary usage of Optimum

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Plant-geography Upon a Physiological Basis by Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper (1903)
"3. Cardinal Points of the Functions of Plants. The harmonic optimum. The absolute optimum. ... Fluctuations of the harmonic optimum during development. ..."

2. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1908)
"If this stimulus ranges between a minimum and an optimum point an excitation of function results; if beyond the optimum point a depression of function, ..."

3. Microbiology: A Text-book of Microörganisms, General and Applied by Charles Edward Marshall (1911)
"THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE is usually about 10° to 15° higher than the optimum. The development of microorganisms above the optimum temperature is not quite ..."

4. The Newer Knowledge of Nutrition: The Use of Food for the Preservation of by Elmer Verner McCollum (1922)
"The Diet Should Be as Near the optimum as Possible with Respect to Every Factor.—The object of this account of the effects of faulty diets which fall short ..."

5. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1899)
"(b)1 The following apparatus may be used not only for testing their sensitiveness to temperature, but also for finding their optimum. ..."

6. Report of the Annual Meeting (1899)
"... Calculation of an Osmotic optimum. By Professor Dr. L. ERRERA (Brussels). Recent researches made by Dr. F. Van Rysselberghe in the Botanical Institute ..."

7. Biological Control of Insects and Mites: An Introduction to Beneficial by Daniel L. Mahr, Nino M. Ridgway (1993)
"optimum ENVIRONMENTAL RANGE OF NATURAL ENEMIES Many of the successes in classical biological control have occurred in tropical and subtropical locations. ..."

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