Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definitions: Acme |
AcmeNoun1. The highest level or degree attainable: "his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty"; "the artist's gifts are at their acme"; "at the height of her career"; "the peak of perfection"; "summer was at its peak"; "...catapulted Einstein to the pinnacle of fame"; "the summit of his ambition"; "so many highest superlatives achieved by man"; "at the top of his profession". 2. The highest point of something. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "acme" was first used: 1620. (references) |
Etymology: Acme \Ac"me\, noun. [Greek expression point, top.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Computing | Acme n. [from Greek `akme', highest point of perfection or achievement] The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry - where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson (two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop. The name has been humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything. (In fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the early 1900s.) Describing some X as an "Acme X" either means "This is insanely great", or, more likely, "This looks insanely great on paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with it." Compare pistol. This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons. In these cartoons, the famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap, and eat the Roadrunner. His attempts usually involved one or more high-technology Rube Goldberg devices - rocket jetpacks, catapults, magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were usually delivered in large wooden crates labeled prominently with the Acme name - which, probably not by coincidence, was the trade name of the animation rotation board used by cartoonists since forever. Acme devices invariably malfunctioned in improbable and violent ways. Source: Jargon File. |
Literature | Acme The crisis of a disease. Old medical writers used to divide the progress of a disease into four periods: the ar-che, or beginning; the anabasis, or increase, the acme, or term of its utmost violence, and the pa-rac-me, or decline. Figuratively, the highest point of anything. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The origins of the term are obscure, but if not the Latin word acme meaning high point or best, it would probably be derived from an acronym.The most common is "American corporation manufacturing everything".
Acme is also:
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Acme."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
ACME | English | ACME screw thread | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: AcmeSynonyms: apex (n), elevation (n), height (n), peak (n), pinnacle (n), summit (n), superlative (n), top (n), vertex (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Perfection | Pink, beau ideal, phenix, paragon; pink of perfection, acme of perfection; ne plus ultra; summit. |
Summit | Noun: summit, summity; top, peak, vertex, apex, zenith, pinnacle, acme, culmination, meridian, utmost height, ne plus utra, height, pitch, maximum, climax, culminating point, crowning point, turning point; turn of the tide, fountain head; water shed, water parting; sky, pole. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Acme |
| English words defined with "acme": Culmen ♦ elevation ♦ height ♦ Paracmastic, peak, pinnacle ♦ summit, superlative ♦ top, typhoid fever. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "acme": 15610 ♦ 71316 ♦ 82839 ♦ 98220 ♦ backronym ♦ Country ♦ Sleep like a Top. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "acme": Paracmastic. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Acme" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Italian (acme, peak), Portuguese (acme). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Say, uh, Cousin Wash, I suppose it'd be the acme of foolishness to inquire if you had a hair net. (O Brother, Where Art Thou?; writing credit: Ethan Coen) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Acme Radio Hour (1995) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
| ||
Periodicals |
| ||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | [George Clayton and Dr. Harold J. Paulus prepare equipment for smog test] / ACME photo.Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ![]() | The acme of Italian sunsets] / Karl Kae Knecht.Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Florida coast line lashed by the tropical hurricane of Sept. 1945 ... / Acme photo.Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | When the law was powerless / Acme.Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Vote new European recovery funds / Acme photo.Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Shigeru Yoshida, half-length portrait, seated, facing left] / Acme p.Credit: Library of Congress; photo by Thomas Shafer.. |
![]() | Allies advance in Normandy / Acme p.Credit: Library of Congress; photo by Bert Brandt, war pool correspondent.. | ![]() | French refugees streaming from the battle areas of Normandy into this assembly center, stop at this desk to be counted and registered by Allied fighters in charge of the natives made homeless by the fight for freedom / Acme p.Credit: Library of Congress; photo by Andrew Lopez for the.. |
![]() | Acme Bread--Acme Bread Company, Berkeley / David Lance Goines 1989.Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | The last of the magicians, Powell dean of American magicians : the master mind of modern magic : the acme of perfect manipulation, a revelation in human dexterity : the magic of a lifetime.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| "Acme" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 56.67% of the time. "Acme" is used about 30 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 56.67% | 17 | 85,106 |
| Noun (proper) | 43.33% | 13 | 97,576 |
| Total | 100.00% | 30 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | ACME Communications Incorporated |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
1. Acme, LA 2. Acme, PA 3. Acme, WA 4. Acme, WY |
Expressions using "acme": acme of perfection ♦ the acme of glory ♦ the acme of perfection. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
acme | 630 |
acme brick | 209 |
acme market | 192 |
acme supermarket | 150 |
acme transformer | 102 |
acme club comedy | 100 |
acme screw | 73 |
acme grocery store | 55 |
acme electric | 39 |
acme celeb | 38 |
acme nut | 37 |
acme porn | 37 |
acme jeep | 34 |
acme mi | 33 |
acme fan | 30 |
acme furniture | 29 |
acme boot | 29 |
acme soccer | 29 |
acme food store | 26 |
acme pa | 26 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "acme"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | apogeum. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pika më e larte, kulm (apex, bloom, climax, crescendo, crisis, crown, culmination, dead, extremity, flower, heat, height, heyday, meridian, nab, payoff, peak, pink, pinnacle, prime, summit, superlative, tiptop, top, vertex, zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | قمة (apex, climax, cop, crest, crown, head, height, heyday, high, meridian, peak, pinnacle, prime, summit, tip, tiptop, top, vertex, zenith), ذروة (cap, climax, crown, heyday, paroxysm, pinnacle, roof, summit, top, vertex, zenith), أوج (apex, climax, culmination, noontide, pinnacle, pitch, ridge, summit, top, zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | кулминационна точка (climax, culmination, height, high water mark, noon, peak, pinnacle, zenith), връхна точка (apex, climax, highlight, peak, pinnacle, pride, sum, tiptop, ultimate, zenith), връх (apex, cap, consummation, cope-stone, cusp, extremity, full, gad, head, height, heyday, loop, meridian, peak, perfection, pink, pinnacle, point, summit, tip, tiptop, top, topping, vertex), апогей (apogee, crest, culmination, height, heyday, high tide, meridian, pinnacle, pride, summit, zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 尖端. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | vrchol (apex, brow, cusp, height, heyday, peak, pink, pinnacle, summit, top, vertex, zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | akme (crisis), kulmination (crisis, culmination, transit), fastigium (crisis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | toppunt, hoogtepunt (zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | kulmino. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | منتها(درجه ء), مرتفعترین نقطه , نقطه ء کمال (Apogee), قله (Climax, Crest, Culmination, Knoll, Pap, Peak, Point, Summit, Top, Vertex, Zenith), سر (Apex, Cabal, Chief, Corona, End, Extremity, Mystery, Pash, Pate, Plug, Point, Ruler, Secret, Thought, Top, Vertex), ذروه (Apogee, Summit), اوج (Apogee, Climax, Crescendo, Culmination, Meridian, Noontide, Pinnacle, Pitch, Summit, Tiptop, Top, Zenith), بحران (Crisis, Tension). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | huippukohta (climax, culmination, peak). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | sommet, point culminant, cime, acmé. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Höhepunkt (apex, apogee, climax, crest, culmination, head, heyday, high point, high spot, highest point, highlight, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, vertex), Gipfel (apogee, crest, crown, height, hilltop, market top, meridian, peak, peak value, perfection, pinnacle, summit, summits, surface, tip, top, tree canopy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ακμή (acne, crisis, edge, heyday, knuckle, ledge, point, prime, prosperity, toe). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | שיא (apex, climax, height, high, highlight, maximum, peak, pinnacle, summit, top, zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | tetőpont (apex, apices, culmination, head, pinnacle, pitch, vertex, vertices). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | acme (crisis, peak). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 極み (extremity, height). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | きわみ (extremity, height). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 크미. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | acmeay crise (access, aggression, attack, bout, conjuncture, crisis, depression, emergency, fit, head, shortage, slump), apogeu (apex, apogee, climax, culminating point, height, heyday, meridian, pinnacle, point of culmination, prime, zenith), acme (crisis). (various references) apogeu (apex, apogee, climax, crest, culmination, height, heyday, high water mark, it, noon, noonday, noontide, summit, zenith), zenit (climax, vertex, zenith), vârf (apex, cap, climax, crest, cusp, edge, end, head, height, knoll, nib, nozzle, peak, pinnacle, point, style, summit, tip, tiptop, top, topping), paroxism (paroxysm, throes), culme (apex, apogee, climax, crest, culmination, height, heyday, it, noon, noonday, noontide, paroxysm, peak, perfection, perisher, ridge, summit, top, vertex, zenith), crizã (access, attack, bout, climacteric, crisis, depression, fit, head, juncture, push, slump, spasm, turn). (various references) кульминация (climax, culmination, high point, high spot), высшая точка (climax, meridian, peak, tiptop, topgallant), вершина (apex, apices, culm, mountaintop, nab, peak, pinnacle, root, summit, tip, top, vertex). (various references) seusdar (at its, perfection : 'na sheusdar). (various references) vrhunac (climax, heyday, highlight, peak, pinnacle, roof, tiptop, top, vertex, zenith), vrh (apex, crest, cusp, head, height, peak, pinnacle, point, summit, tip, top). (various references) cumbre (apex, bowl, peak, pinnacle, summit, summit meeting, top, vertex, zenith), apogeo (apogee, climax, heyday, peak, pride, zenith). (various references) höjdpunkt (apogee, climax, head, height, heyday, high tide, hight basement, noon, noontide, peak, pinnacle, top, zenith). (various references) zirve (apex, apogee, cap, climax, crown, culmination, cusp, head, height, high, high tide, meridian, payoff, peak, Pike, pink, pinnacle, summit, top, vertex, zenith), kriz (attack, bout, conjuncture, crisis, fit, ictus, invasion, paroxysm, spell), doruk (apex, apical, apogee, climax, crest, culmination, cusp, height, heyday, high tide, meridian, peak, pinnacle, sum, summit, top, vertex, zenith), buhran (crisis, depression, emergency). (various references) кульмінаційний пункт (blow off, climax, superlative), найвища точка (climax, culmination, high, peak, tiptop). (various references) tột đỉnh (peak, perfection, zenith). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | akme. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | consummatio, consummatione, consummationem, consummationi, consummationis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "acme": acmes. (additional references) | |
| |
"Acme" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: aame, acce, Accm, accme, Acde, acel, acev, acgm, Achmet, acie, acle, Acmh, Acmin, acml, acoe, Acom, acoma, actm, acue, Acuma, acume, acumeb, acumed, Aczel, adcm, aeme, afm, agma, Ahcima, Ahma, ahme, aime, Akfm, Akhmim, akm, akoe, Akue, Akumu, Akyma, alcm, amc, Amca, amcee, ame, amee, amhe, amoe, aome, apme, arme, Armee, asem, asma, asme, Asmf, assem, atme, Aucbe, aume, avcom, Avma, Ayme, Azmi, Ccem, cme, Dacmi, Ecma, ecmo, ecume, efme, Fcmo, icm, Icmc, Issmfe, kama, mache, nacm, Ukcmg. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "acme" (pronounced 'Ac"me'): Ayme, Drachme, Fadme. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: came, mace. | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-m" | |
-1 letter: ace, cam, mac, mae. | |
-2 letters: ae, am, em, ma, me. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-m" | |
+1 letter: acmes, amice, camel, cameo, cames, comae, cream, cymae, maced, macer, maces, mache, macle, mecca. | |
+2 letters: acetum, acumen, aecium, almuce, amebic, amerce, amices, anemic, becalm, became, cabmen, caecum, caeoma, calmed, calmer, camber, camels, cameos, camera, camise, camlet, camped, camper, carmen, cinema, comade, comake, comate, crambe, creams, creamy, decamp, eczema, encamp, haemic, iceman, macers, maches, mackle, macled, macles, macule, malice, manche, marcel, meccas, menace, mescal, mezcal, muscae, pomace, raceme, sachem, samech, schema, scream. | |
+3 letters: academe, academy, acumens, alchemy, alembic, almuces, ambsace, amerced, amercer, amerces, amesace, amnesic, amoebic, anaemic, becalms, becharm, brecham, caeomas, caesium, calmest, calomel, calumet, camases, cambers, camelia, cameoed, camerae, cameral, cameras, camises, camlets, campers, campier, caramel, carmine, caromed, caveman, cavemen, cembali, cembalo, cementa, ceramal, ceramic, chamade, chamber, chamfer, chamise, champed, champer, chapmen, charmed, charmer, chasmed, chimera, cinemas, claimed, claimer, clamber, clammed, clammer, clamped, clamper, climate, comaker, comakes, comates, compare, comrade, coremia, crambes, crammed, crammer, cramped, creamed, creamer, cremate, crewman, decamps, decimal, declaim, decuman, ecthyma, eczemas, embrace, emplace, encamps, encomia, exclaim, gametic, grimace, hackmen, hematic, impeach, keramic, leucoma, macaber, macabre, macaque, macchie, machete, machine, machree, mackled, mackles, macrame, maculae, maculed, macules, malefic, malices, manacle, manches, manchet, marcels, marched, marchen, marcher, marches, matched, matcher, matches, medevac, mediacy, medical, melanic, menaced, menacer, menaces, mesarch, mescals, metical, mezcals, micella, miracle, morceau, mucosae, mycelia, nematic, packmen, pemican, pomaces, pyaemic, racemed, racemes, racemic, reclaim, reclame, rematch, romance, sachems, samechs, scammed, scamped, scamper, schemas, schmear, screams, sematic, smacked, smacker, taxemic, uraemic, vomicae. | |
+4 letters: academes, academia, academic, aceldama, acetamid, acidemia, acrosome, adamance, aecidium, alchemic, alembics, ambiance, ambience, ambsaces, amelcorn, amercers, amercing, amesaces, amicable, ammocete, amnesiac, amnesics, amnestic, analcime, anoxemic, autecism, azotemic, becalmed, bechamel, becharms, beclamor, brechams, caesiums, calamine, calamite, calmness, calomels, calumets, camailed, camasses, cambered, cameleer, camelias, camellia, cameoing, camisade, camisole, camomile, campagne, campfire, camphene, camphine, camphire, campiest, camporee, campsite, campused, campuses, capmaker, capsomer, caramels, carmaker, carmines, carromed, casemate, casement, caseworm, cashmere, casimere, casimire, casteism, catamite, cellmate, celomata, cembalos, ceramals, ceramics, ceramist, chainmen, chairmen, chamades, chambers, chamfers, chamises, chammied, chammies, champers, charmers, chedarim, chemical, chessman, chimaera, chimeras, choreman, chromate, claimers, clambake, clambers, clammers, clammier, clamored, clamorer, clampers, clansmen, claymore, clematis, climates, climaxed, climaxes, coachmen, coadmire, coassume, coenamor, coinmate, comakers, comanage, comatose, combated, combater, comeback, comedian, cometary, compadre, compared, comparer, compares, compleat, comrades, copemate, copremia, cornmeal, crabmeat, cragsmen, cramboes, crammers, creamers, creamery, creamier, creamily, creaming, cremains, cremated, cremates, cremator, crewmate, cumulate, cyclamen, cymbaler, daemonic, decagram, decamped, decigram, decimals, decimate, declaims, demarche, democrat, demoniac, drachmae, dumbcane, echogram, emaciate, embraced, embracer, embraces, empathic, emphatic, emplaced, emplaces, encamped, escapism, exclaims, exogamic, facemask, feminacy, flamenco, gamecock, geomancy, germanic, gramercy, grimaced, grimacer, grimaces, haematic, hecatomb, hematics, henchman, icemaker, impacted, impacter, inchmeal, ischemia, kamacite, keramics, lambency, lechayim, leucemia, leucomas, limacine, macaques, macerate, machetes, machined, machines, machrees, mackerel, macrames, maculate, maenadic, magicked, magnesic, magnetic, maieutic, majestic, maledict, manacled, manacles, manchets, manciple, manicure, marchers, marchesa, marchese, marchesi, massacre, mastiche, matchers, matrices, maverick, mechanic, medallic, medevacs, medicaid, medicals, medicare, medicate, megabuck, megacity, melanics, melodica, menacers, menacing, menarche, meniscal, mercapto, merchant, mesocarp, metallic, metazoic, meticais, meticals, metrical, micawber, micellae, micellar, midspace, millcake, millrace, miracles, misacted, misplace, misspace, misteach, mistrace, mockable, monecian, morceaux, moschate, mucilage, muckrake, muricate, muscadel, muscadet, muscatel, musicale, mustache, mycelial, mycelian, mycetoma, neumatic, nickname, numeracy, overcame, overcram, pandemic, parecism, pemicans, pemmican, placeman, placemen, racemate, racemism, racemize, racemoid, racemose, racemous, ranchmen, rearmice, recamier, reclaims, reclames, rhematic, romanced, romancer, romances, sachemic, sapremic, scampers, scampies, schemata, schmears, scimetar, scleroma, scramble, scramjet, scrammed, screamed, screamer, semantic, semicoma, smackers, spaceman, spacemen, sycamine, sycamore, tachisme, tagmemic, thematic, timecard, toxaemic, trackmen, vacuumed, vambrace, watchmen, yachtmen. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 63 6D 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
|
| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
|
| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
|
Morse Code (1836) (references).- -.-. -- . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01100011 01101101 01100101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A c m e |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 0063 006D 0065 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
|
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)35697971 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Company Usage 10. Cities 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Abbreviations 16. Acronyms | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Orthography | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.