MAXIMUM

The greatest quantity or value attainable in a given case; or, the greatest value attained by a quantity which first increases and then begins to decrease; the highest point or degree; -- opposed to Ant: minimum. Good legislation is the art of conducting a nation to the maximum of happiness, and the minimum of misery. P. Colquhoun. Maximum thermometer, a thermometer that registers the highest degree of temperature attained in a given time, or since its last adjustment.