Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language, 1828
The Century Dictionary, an Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, 1895EXTRE'ME, adjective [Latin extremus, last.] Outermost; utmost; farthest; at the utmost point, edge or border; as the extreme verge or point of a thing.
1. Greatest; most violent; utmost; as extreme pain, grief, or suffering; extreme joy or pleasure.
2. Last; beyond which there is none; as an extreme remedy.
3. Utmost; worst or best that can exist or be supposed; as an extreme case.
4. Most pressing; as extreme necessity.
Extreme unction, among the Romanists, is the anointing of a sick person with oil, when decrepit with age or affected with some mortal disease, and usually just before death. It is applied to the eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, hands, feet and reins of penitents, and is supposed to represent the grace of God poured into the soul.
Extreme and mean proportion, in geometry, is when a line is so divided, that the whole line is to the greater segment, as the segment is to the less; or when a line is so divided, that the rectangle under the whole line and the lesser segment is equal to the square of the greater segment.
EXTRE'ME, noun The utmost point or verge of a thing; that part which terminates a body; extremity.
1. Utmost point; furthest degree; as the extremes of heat and cold; the extremes of virtue and vice. Avoid extremes. Extremes naturally beget each other.
There is a natural progression from the extreme of anarchy to the extreme of tyranny.
2. In logic, the extremes or extreme terms of a syllogism are the predicate and subject. Thus, 'man is an animal: Peter is a man, therefore Peter is an animal; ' the word animal is the greater extreme and man the medium.
3. In mathematics, the extremes are the first and last terms of a proportion; as, when three magnitudes are proportional, the rectangle contained by the extremes is equal contained by the extremes is equal to the square of the mean.
extremism (eks-tre'mizm), n. [< extreme + -ism.]
Disposition to go to extremes in doctrine or practice ; ultraism.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 1919extremist (eks-tre'mist), n. [< extreme + -ist.]
One who goes to extremes; a supporter of extreme doctrines or practice.
extreme, a. & n.
Outermost, farthest from centre, situated at either end ; divided in e. & mean ratio (the whole being to one part as that part to the other) ; utmost ; last, as (R.-C. Ch.) e. unction, anointing by priest of dying person ; reaching a high degree, as e. old age, in e. danger ; an e. case (having some characteristic in the utmost degree); (of actions, measures) severe, stringent ; (of opinions, persons, &c.) going to great lengths, opp. to moderate, whence extremism, extremist,
Ballentine’s Law Dictionary, James A. Ballentine, Third Edition, 1969
Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition, 1968, 5th Edition, 1979extreme.
Outermost: utmost. Sometimes employed as the opposite of moderate, but more often as meaning far advanced or excessive. e. g. “extreme cruelty.” Estate of Nelson. 132 Cal 182. 191.
DHS Lexicon, TermsEXTREME.
At the utmost point, edge, or border; most remote. Last; conclusive. Greatest, highest, strongest, or the like. Immoderate; violent.
anti-government extremist –
group or person who facilitate or engage in unlawful acts of violence directed at federal, state, or local law enforcement, other government officials, critical infrastructure or government facilities in order to affect the conduct of a government or influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, in response to their belief that their liberties are being taken away by the perceived unconstitutional or otherwise illegitimate actions of government officials or law enforcement.
animal rights extremist –
group or person who facilitate or engage in acts of unlawful violence directed against people, businesses, or government entities perceived to be exploiting or abusing animals.
anti-abortion extremist –
group or person who facilitate or engage in acts of unlawful violence directed against the providers of abortion related services, their employees, and their facilities in support of the belief that the practice of abortion should end.
countering violent extremism –
approach to mitigating or preventing potential terrorist activity emphasizes the strength of local communities via engagement with a broad range of partners to gain a better understanding of the behaviors, tactics, and other indicators associated with terrorist activity.
environmental rights extremist –
group or person who facilitate or engage in acts of unlawful violence against people, businesses, or government entities perceived to be destroying, degrading, or exploiting the natural environment.
homegrown violent extremist –
person of any citizenship who has lived and/ or operated primarily in the United States or its territories who advocates, is engaged in, or is preparing to engage in ideologically-motivated terrorist activities (including providing support to terrorism) in furtherance of political or social objectives promoted by a foreign terrorist organization, but is acting independently of direction by a foreign terrorist organization.
militia extremist –
group or person who facilitate or engage in acts of unlawful violence directed at federal, state, or local government officials or infrastructure in response to their belief that the government deliberately is stripping Americans of their freedoms and is attempting to establish a totalitarian regime consequently oppose many federal and state authorities’ laws and regulations, (particularly those related to firearms ownership), and often belong to armed paramilitary groups.
sovereign citizen extremist –
group or person who facilitate or engage in acts of unlawful violence directed at public officials, financial institutions, and government facilities in support of their belief that the legitimacy of US citizenship should be rejected; almost all forms of established government, authority, and institutions are illegitimate; and that they are immune from federal, state, and local laws.
QUOTESviolent extremism –
Violent extremism refers to advocating, engaging in, preparing, or otherwise supporting ideologically motivated or otherwise supporting ideologically motivated or justified violence to further social, economic or political objectives.
Memoirs, David Rockefeller, 2003
Vladimir Putin -“For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure — one world, if you will. If that is the charge, I stand guilty and I am proud of it.”
Bernie Sanders -It is necessary to suppress any extremist actions, on all sides, regardless of their origin.
Dennis Prager -The Koch brothers, through the expenditure of billions of dollars and the creation and support of dozens of extreme right organizations, have taken fringe extremist ideas and made them mainstream within the Republican Party.
Leon Jaworski -Proponents of same-sex marriage regularly label opponents 'radical' and 'extremist.' However, given that no society in thousands of years has allowed same-sex marriage, it is, by definition, the proponents of same-sex marriage whose position is radical and extreme.
Peter T. King -I would rather have a competent extremist than an incompetent moderate.
Malcolm X -I mean, I really don't want the federal government to be determining whether or not a person who feels certain ways about the environment or about animals or about certain religious issues should be considered an extremist. That to me is a type of thought control, mind control, which is very dangerous.
I don't believe in any form of unjustified extremism! But when a man is exercising extremism — a human being is exercising extremism — in defense of liberty for human beings it's no vice, and when one is moderate in the pursuit of justice for human beings I say he is a sinner.