extreme: [15] Etymologically, extreme is the latinate equivalent of the native English utmost. It comes via Old French extreme from Latin extrēmus ‘farthest, last, excessive’, which began life as a superlative form based on Latin ex ‘out’ – hence originally ‘most out, utmost’. The underlying notion of ‘furthest outlying’ still survives in, for example, the use of extremities for the ‘hands’ or ‘feet’.
extreme (adj.)
early 15c., "outermost, farthest;" also "utter, total, in greatest degree" (opposed to moderate), from Old French extreme (13c.), from Latin extremus "outermost, utmost, farthest, last; the last part; extremity, boundary; highest or greatest degree," superlative of exterus (see exterior). In English as in Latin, not always felt as a superlative, hence more extreme, most extreme (which were condemned by Johnson). Extreme unction preserves the otherwise extinct sense of "last, latest" (15c.).
extreme (n.)
1540s, "utmost point of a thing," from extreme (adj.); originally of the end of life (compare Latin in extremis in reference to the "last stages of life"). Phrase in the extreme "in an extreme degree" attested from c. 1600. Hence extremes "extremities, opposite ends of anything" (1550s); also "extreme measures" (1709).
实用例句
1. The extreme right reared its ugly head in the 1980s.
极右势力在20世纪80年代有所抬头。
来自柯林斯例句
2. It is hard to imagine Lineker capable of anything so extreme.
很难想象莱恩克尔能做出如此极端的事情。
来自柯林斯例句
3. In her extreme youth, Maria had sold her sexual favours for money.
玛丽亚在非常年轻的时候，曾靠卖淫来赚钱。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The far right is now a greater threat than the extreme left.
现在极右派比极左派威胁更大。
来自柯林斯例句
5. They gathered to protest against the renaissance of the extreme right.
