'Extreme and mean ratio' definitions:

Definition of 'Extreme and mean ratio'

From: GCIDE
  • Extreme \Ex*treme"\, a. [L. extremus, superl. of exter, extrus, on the outside, outward: cf. F. extr[^e]me. See Exterior.]
  • 1. At the utmost point, edge, or border; outermost; utmost; farthest; most remote; at the widest limit. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Last; final; conclusive; -- said of time; as, the extreme hour of life. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The best of worst; most urgent; greatest; highest; immoderate; excessive; most violent; as, an extreme case; extreme folly. "The extremest remedy." --Dryden. "Extreme rapidity." --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Radical; ultra; as, extreme opinions. [1913 Webster]
  • The Puritans or extreme Protestants. --Gladstone. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Mus.) Extended or contracted as much as possible; -- said of intervals; as, an extreme sharp second; an extreme flat forth. [1913 Webster]
  • Extreme and mean ratio (Geom.), the relation of a line and its segments when the line is so divided that the whole is to the greater segment is to the less.
  • Extreme distance. (Paint.) See Distance., n., 6.
  • Extreme unction. See under Unction. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Although this adjective, being superlative in signification, is not properly subject to comparison, the superlative form not unfrequently occurs, especially in the older writers. "Tried in his extremest state." --Spenser. "Extremest hardships." --Sharp. "Extremest of evils." --Bacon. "Extremest verge of the swift brook." --Shak. "The sea's extremest borders." --Addison. [1913 Webster]