Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

optimal

 
(ŏp'tə-məl) pronunciation
adj.
Most favorable or desirable; optimum.

optimally op'ti·mal·ly adv.

Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Fowler's Modern English Usage:

optimal, optimum

Top

Both words entered the language in the late 19th century and are used in the meaning 'best or most favourable (in given circumstances)' and therefore mean rather more than simply 'best':
He positioned himself so that he had optimum sight lines down the side street—I. Melchior, 1975
Pursuing policies that would be optimal in a first-class world when one actually lives in a...third-best world can be highly inefficient—Dædalus, 1979.

Previous:opposite, opportunity, operate
Next:opus, or, orator
Roget's Thesaurus:

optimal

Top

adjective

    Surpassing all others in quality: best, optimum, superlative, unsurpassed. See better/worse.

(op′timəl)
adj

The best or most favorable.

Translations:

Optimal

Top

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - optimal, optimum, gunstigst muligt

Nederlands (Dutch)
optimaal

Français (French)
adj. - optimal

Deutsch (German)
adj. - optimal

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - βέλτιστος, (ο) καλύτερος δυνατός

Italiano (Italian)
ottimale

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - ótimo

Русский (Russian)
оптимальный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - óptimo, inmejorable

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - optimal

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
最佳的, 最理想的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 最佳的, 最理想的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 최선의, 최적의

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 最善の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) الأفضل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מיטבי, הטוב ביותר, אופטימלי‬


 
 
Related topics:
functional form
incubating
principle of optimality (control systems)

Related answers:
Enzymes have optimal temperatures.most human enzymes have an optimal temperature of about? Read answer...
What is pareto optimal? Read answer...
What is optimal health? Read answer...

Help us answer these:
What is optimal heath?
What is optimal scale?
What is optimal stock?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Fowler's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. © 1999, 2004 All rights reserved.  Read more
Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

Follow us
Facebook Twitter
YouTube