extreme 
This single bilateral symmetry remains constant under 
the extretnext modifications of form. 
//. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., f 252. 
3. Exacting or severe to the utmost. 
If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done 
amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? 
Book of Common Prayer, Psalter, cxxx. 3. 
Posterity is not extreme to mark abortive crimes. 
Macaulay, Hallam's Const. Hist. 
4. In music, superfluous or augmented: thus, 
the extreme sharp sixth is the aug- 
mented sixth Chord of the ex- 
treme sixth, a chord which in its regular 
form contains an augmented sixth, as in 
flg. a. Extreme fifth. See fifth, n., 2.-Extreme In- 
tervals, in music, expanded, augmented, or superfluous 
intervals : as, the extreme sixth (that is, the augmented 
or sharped sixth). Extreme key, in music, a key not 
closely related to a given key. Extreme parts, in music, 
the parts or voices that lie at the top and bottom of the 
harmony; usually, the soprano and bass. Extreme unc- 
tion. See unction. to cut a line In extreme and 
mean ratio, to cut it into two parts such that the lesser 
is to the greater as the greater is to the whole that is, 
the ratio of the whole to the greater is J(/5 + 1), while 
that of the lesser to the greater is Hv'S- 1). =8yn. 1. Ut- 
termost, most distant, most remote, terminal. 2. Final, 
ultimate, utter. 
II. n. 1. The utmost point or verge of a 
thing; that part which terminates a body; an 
extremity ; the end or one of the ends, espe- 
cially of correlated parts, of a body. 
With this wind they run away in the same parellel 35 
or 36 d. before they cross the line again to the northward, 
which is about midway between the extremes of both prom- 
ontories. Dampier, Voyages, II. ii. 9. 
2. The utmost limit or degree that can be sup- 
posed or tolerated ; either of two states, quali- 
ties, or feelings as different from each other as 
possible ; the highest or the lowest degree : as, 
the extremes of heat and cold; avoid extremes. 
His flaw'd heart, . . . 
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, 
Burst smilingly. Shale., Lear, v. 8. 
Yet is this City subject to both the extreams of weather. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 169. 
The felon is the logical extreme of the epicure and cox- 
comb. Selfish luxury is the end of both, though in one 
it is decorated with refinements, and in the other brutal. 
Emerson, Fortune of the Republic. 
3f. Extremity ; utmost need or distress. 
I will not hide 
What thoughts in my unquiet breast are risen, 
Tending to some relief of our extremes, 
Or end. Milton, P. L., x. 976. 
4. In logic, the subject or the predicate of a cate- 
gorical proposition ; specifically, the subject or 
the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism ; 
either of two terms which are separated in the 
premises and brought together in the conclu- 
sion. The major extreme is the predicate of the conclu- 
sion; the minor extreme, the subject of the conclusion. 
The major is also called the first extreme; the minor, the 
second extreme. 
5. Inmath.: (a) Either of the first and last terms 
of a proportion, or of any other related se- 
quence or series of terms : as, when three mag- 
nitudes are proportional, the rectangle con- 
tained by the extremes is equal to the square 
of the mean. (6) The largest or the smallest 
of three or more magnitudes. 
If any three unequall numbers be proposed, they have 
this propertie : that the product of their meane number 
by the total of both the ods or differences whereby the 
extreames differ from the same meane countervayles both 
the products made of each extreame by this fellowes differ- 
ance or ods. T. Hill, Arithmetic (1600), fol. 31. 
(c) Any part of a right-angled or quadrantal 
spherical triangle other than the part assumed 
as mean. The two extremes nearest the mean are called 
the conjunct extremes, the other two the disjunct extremes. 
In the extreme, in the highest or utmost degree. 
All colours in Brazil, whether of birds, insects, or flow- 
ers, are brilliant in the extreme. 
Lady Brassey, Voyage of Sunbeam, I. iv. 
The extremes of an interval, in music, the two sounds 
most distant from each other. To go to extremes, to 
proceed to an extremity in some course or action ; use ex- 
treme measures or methods ; carry one's opinions or pro- 
ceedings to the utmost limit or consequences. =Syn. See 
extremity. 
extremet (eks-trem'), adv. [< extreme, a.] Ex- 
tremely; excessively; exceedingly. 
The colde is extreame sharpe, but here the Proverbe is 
true, that no extreame long continneth. 
Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 114. 
Lord Peter, even in his lucid intervals, was very lewdly 
given in his common conversation, extreme wilful and 
positive. Sw(ft, Tale of a Tub, iv. 
extremeless (eks-trem'les), a. [< extreme + 
-tess.] Having no extremes or extremities ; in- 
finite. Bailey, 1727. 
extremely (eks-trem'li), adv. In the utmost 
degree; to the utmost; more commonly, to a 
2100 
very great degree ; exceedingly : as, extremely 
hot or cold ; extremely painful. 
It rained most extremely without any ceasing. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 67. 
I swear thou shalt fight with me, or thou Shalt be beaten 
extremely and kicked. 
Beau, and Fl., King and No King, iii. 2. 
extremeness (eks-trem'nes), n. The quality of 
being extreme ; tendency to extremes. 
There is perhaps a little extremeness on either side. 
Sci. Amer., N. S., LV. 197. 
extremism (eks-tre'mizm), . [< extreme + 
-ism.'] Disposition to go to extremes in doc- 
trine or practice ; ultraism. 
It is just this extremism which makes any effective con- 
trol of the traffic in liquors so nearly hopeless in this 
country. The American, XIII. 276. 
It [the anti-saloon movement] recognizes the futility of 
extremism. New York Senti-weekly Tribune, Aug. 26, 1887. 
extremist (eks-tre'mist), n. [< extreme + -ist.'] 
One who goes to extremes ; a supporter of ex- 
treme doctrines or practice. 
But at no time has the Prime Minister given his sanc- 
tion to the proposals of the extremists in his own party. 
The American, IX. 117. 
extremital (eks-trem'i-tal), a. [< extremity + 
-al.~\ Inzool., pertaining to an extremity; sit- 
uated at the end ; distal : opposed to proximal. 
extremity (eks-trem' j-ti), . ; pi. extremities 
(-tiz). [< ME. extremtie, < OF. extremite, F. ex- 
tr6mitt=z Pr. extremitat = Sp. extremidad = Pg. 
extremidade = It. estremita, stremita, < L. ex- 
tremita(t-)s, the extremity or end, < extremus, 
furthest, extreme : see extreme.'] 1. The utmost 
point or side ; the end or the verge ; the point 
or border that terminates a thing : as, the ex- 
tremities of a bridge ; the extremities of a lake. 
Perseus readily undertook a very long expedition even 
from the east to the extremities of the west. 
Bacon, Fable of Perseus. 
Petrarca's villa is at the extremity farthest from Padua. 
Eustace, Tour through Italy, I. iv. 
2. In anat. and zool., a limb or an organ of loco- 
motion ; an appendage or appendicular part of 
the body. The extremities of the vertebrate body are 
four in number, viz., the arms and legs, divided in man 
into upper and lower, and in other animals into anterior 
and posterior extremities. 
He schal waische al his body and his extremytees with 
brennynge watir ofte tymes. 
Book of Quinte Essence (ed. Furnivall), p. 17. 
It is a sign ... of new vigor, when the extremities are 
made active, when currents of warm life run into the 
hands and feet. Emerson, Misc., p. 93. 
3. The highest degree ; the most intense form : 
as, to suffer the extremity of pain or cruelty. 
He is vain-glorious and humble, and angry and patient, 
and merry and dull, and joyful and sorrowful, in extremi- 
ties, in an hour. Beau, and Fl., King and No King, L 1. 
Come arm'd with Flames, for I will prove 
All the Extremities of mighty Love. 
Cowley, The Mistress, Request. 
He reddening in extremity of delight, 
"My lord, you overpay me fifty-fold." 
Tennyton, Oeraint. 
4. Extreme or utmost need, distress, or diffi- 
culty; the greatest degree of destitution or 
helplessness; specifically, death : as, a city be- 
sieged and reduced to extremity; man's extrem- 
ity is God's opportunity. 
My servants all for life did flee, 
And left me in extremitie. 
Lament of the Border Widow (Child's Ballads, III. 87). 
Lover's oaths are like mariner's prayers, uttered in ex- 
tremity. Webster, White Devil, iv. 4. 
5. pi. Extreme measures : as, the commander 
was compelled to proceed to extremities. 
Extremities ought then only to ensue when, after a fair 
experiment, accommodation has been found impracticable. 
A. Hamilton, Works, I. 438. 
= Syn. 1. Extremity, End, Extreme, border, termination. 
Extremity is opposed to middle, end to beginning, and ex- 
treme to mean or moderate degree. Extreme is now used 
only in figurative senses ; the others are literal or figura- 
tive. Extreme generally indicates that which is excessive, 
exaggerated, or extravagant: as, he was dressed in the 
extreme of the fashion ; " avoid extremes," Pope, Essay on 
Criticism, 1. 385. For the direct expression of a great dis- 
tress, etc., extremity is used, and extreme is rare or obso- 
lete. 
Truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love. 
Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 
But only fools, and they of vast estate, 
The extremity of modes will imitate. 
Dryden, New House, Prol., 1. 26. 
Death is the end of life; ah, why 
Should life all labour be? 
Tennyson, Lotos-Eaters (Choric Song). 
The human mind not infrequently passes from one ex- 
treme to another ; from one of implicit faith to one of ab- 
solute incredulity. 
Story, Address, Cambridge, Aug. 31, 1826. 
extricable (eks'tri-ka-bl), a. [< L. as if "extri- 
cabilis (of. inextricafnlis), inextricable, < extri- 
extrinsic 
care, extricate: see extricate.'] Capable of be- 
ing extricated. 
Germ above roundish-egged, very villous, scarce extri- 
cable from the calyx enclosing and grasping it. 
Sir W. Jones, Select Indian Plants. 
extricate (eks'tri-kat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. ex- 
tricated, ppr. extricating. [< L. extricatus, pp. 
of extricare, disentangle, extricate, < ex, out, + 
trica:, trifles, toys, trumpery, hence also hin- 
drances, impediments. Cf. intricate.'] 1. To 
disentangle ; disengage ; free : as, to extricate 
one from a perilous or embarrassing situation ; 
to extricate one's self from debt. 
A friend was arrested for fifty pounds. I was unable to 
extricate him, except by becoming his bail. 
Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, xxvii. 
Butler dwells ... on the dexterity with which lie 
[Shaftesbury] fabricated himself from the snares in which 
he left his associates to perish. 
Macaulay, Sir William Temple. 
If I felt any emotion at all, it was a kind of chuckling 
satisfaction at the cleverness I was about to display in ex- 
tricating myself from this dilemma. Poe, Tales, I. 13. 
2. To set loose or free ; evolve ; excrete. 
They extricate water, urea, and carbonic add. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 413. 
This mixture [for the manufacture of phosphorus] must 
be made out of doors, as under an open shed, on account 
of the carbonic acid and other offensive gases which are 
extricated. Ure, Diet., III. 557. 
= Syn. 1. Disentangle, etc. (see disengage) ; relieve, de- 
liver, set free. 
extricate, extricated (eks'tri-kat, -ka-ted), a. 
[< L. extricatus, pp. : see the verb.] In entom., 
extruded : applied to the ovipositor when the 
valves and vagina are entirely without the 
body, whether in use or not, as in many leh- 
iieuinoiiidn. 
extrication (eks-tri-ka'shon), n. [< extricate 
+ -ion.] 1. The act of extricating, or the state 
of being extricated; a freeing from impedi- 
ments or embarrassments; disentanglement. 
The chief object in the mind of every citizen may not be 
extrication from a condition admitted to be disgraceful, 
but fulfilment of a duty which shall be also a birthright. 
Kuskin, Lectures on Art, . 4. 
2. The act or process of setting loose or free ; 
an evolving: as, the extrication of heat or 
moisture from a substance. 
Extrication, or escape of the embryo from the ovum. 
Owen, Anat., xii. 
Whenever any rapid chemical action attended with ex- 
trication of light and heat takes place, combustion is said 
to occur. W. A. Miller, Elem. of Chem., 336. 
extrinsecalt, a. See extrinsical. 
extrinsecatet, a. See extrinsicate. 
extrinsic (eks-trin'sik), a. [Formerly extrin- 
sick, extrinsique; prop, "extrinsec (the term, be- 
ing erroneously conformed to that of adjectives 
in -ic) = F. extrinseque = Pr. extrinsec = Sp. ex- 
trinseco = Pg. extrinsem = It. estrinseco, < L. 
extrinsecus, adj., outer, < extrinsecus, adv., from 
without, without, on the outside, < "extrim, an 
assumed adverbial form of exter, outer, out- 
ward, + secus, prep., by, beside, seen also in 
intrinsecus, on the inside (> E. intrinsic, q. v.), 
altrinsecus, on the other side, utrinsecus, on both 
sides, circumsecus, on all sides.] 1. Outward; 
external ; not of the essence or inner being or 
nature of a thing. 
So in like manner astronomy exhibiteth the extrinsique 
parts of celestial bodies (namely, the number or situation, 
notion, and periods of the starves) as the hide of heaven. 
Bacon, On Learning, ii. 4. 
The royal stamp upon any kind of metal may be suffi- 
cient to give it an extrinsick value, and to determine the 
rate at which it is to pass amongst coins; but it cannot give 
an intrinsick value, or make that which is but brass to 
be gold. Bp. Wilkins, Natural Religion, it 8. 
Words 
That, while they most ambitiously set forth 
Extrinsic differences, the outward marks 
Whereby society has parted man 
From man, neglect the universal heart. 
Wordsworth, Prelude, xiii. 
2. Determined by something else than the sub- 
ject; extraneous; foreign. 
That one is wise, and another is foolish or less learned, 
is by accident and extrinsic causes. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 302. 
3. In anat., originating outside the anatomical 
limits of a limb, these limits including the pec- 
toral and pelvic arches : applied to certain mus- 
cles. 4. In Scots lair, not relevant to the point 
referred: applied to facts and circumstances 
sworn to by a party on a reference to his oath, 
which cannot be competently taken as part of 
the evidence. Extrinsic or extrinsical argument, 
an argument not drawn from a definition. Extrinsic 
evidence, that evidence which is not contained in a docu- 
ment, but sought to be adduced from without, as for the 
purpose of interpreting its contents or qualifying its effect. 
=Syn. See exterior. 
