extremity
UK /ɪkˈstɹɛmɪti/ · US /ɪkˈstɹɛməti/ noun
Forms extremities extremitys
- noun The most extreme or furthest point of something.
- noun An extreme measure.
- noun A hand or foot. “Guillain–Barré syndrome causes one to not be able to move one’s extremities.”
- noun A limb (“major appendage of a human or animal such as an arm, leg, or wing”).
Synonyms
Etymology
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)).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The extreme part; the utmost limit; the farthest or remotest point or part; as, the extremities of a country.
- noun One of locomotive appendages of an animal; a limb; a leg or an arm of man.
Etymology [L. extremitas: cf. F. extrémité.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “extremity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details