Maximus

M3A1X8I1M3U1S1

proper noun

A male given name.

Less commonScrabble 18

Meanings

proper nounMaximus (plural Maximuses or Maximi)

plural Maximuses · plural Maximi

  1. A male given name.

    To men he felt he could trust—Bassus, the two Maximi, Felix, Evagrius, and Ablabius, for instance—he was willing to delegate great authority over long periods of time; […]

    2013, David [Stone] Potter, “An Ordered Society”, in Constantine the Emperor, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, published 2015, →ISBN, part 8 (Ruler of the World), page 274
    5 more examples

    Maximus Byzantinus. Contemporary with Maximus of Ephesus: Socrates H. E. III. 1 Μάξιμος ὁ φιλόσοφος, οὐχ ὁ Βυζάντιος ὁ Εὐκλείδου πατὴρ, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ᾿Εφέσιος. Speaking of cir. A. D. 350. These two Maximi are confounded by Suidas p. 2396 BC.

    1850, Henry Fynes Clinton, Fasti Romani. The Civil and Literary Chronology of Rome and Constantinople. […], volume II (Appendix), Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the University Press, page 309

    [S]ix have references to other names, and then there are twenty-four different days of commemoration. The catalogue of Maximuses, of whom they are sixty-two recorded, is on a similar plan.

    1881 July, “Article II. Smith’s Christian Antiquities.”, in The Southern Presbyterian Review, volume XXXII, Columbia, S.C.: […] Presbyterian Publishing House, page 433

    G.E. Ganss, Selected sermons of saint Maximus and saint Valerian’s homilies, FC 17, Washington 1965; F. Gallesio, Sermoni di s. Massimo di Torino, Rome 1975; Ed. and Eng. tr. B. Ramsey, The Sermons of St. Maximus of Turin, ACW 50 (1989). Studies supposing the identity of the two Maximi or referring uncritically to B. Bruni’s edition have a relative value.

    1992, M. Pellegrino, translated by Adrian Walford, “MAXIMUS of Turin”, in Angelo Di Berardino, editor, Encyclopedia of the Early Church, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 549, column 1

    The company of men like the two Maximi, local landowner and provincial governor, may have deluded Julian into forming hopes which far outreached anything that could be achieved by anti-Christian legislation.

    1993, Stephen Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor, volume II (The Rise of the Church), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1995, →ISBN, page 91, column 2

    Socrates carefully distinguishes Maximus of Ephesus from Maximus of Byzantium, and identifies him, pejoratively, as the philosopher who was executed by Valentinian for magic. Given the care with which he differentiates the two Maximi, it is curious that he wrongly attributes the execution to Valentinian rather than to Valens.

    2003, D. F. Buck, “Socrates Scholasticus on Julian the Apostate”, in Byzantion, volume LXXIII, Brussels, page 303

Origin

  1. LatinMaximus
  2. LatinMaximus
  3. EnglishMaximus

Borrowed from Latin Maximus.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Maximus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maximus

MLA

“Maximus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maximus. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Maximus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maximus.

Source: Maximus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.