1. optimum - Noun
2. optimum - Adjective
3. optimum - Adjective Satellite
most desirable possible under a restriction expressed or implied
most favorable conditions or greatest degree or amount possible under given circumstances
Source: WordNetRather, for all objects and experiences, there is a quantity that has optimum value. Above that quantity, the variable becomes toxic. To fall below that value is to be deprived. Gregory Bateson
The optimum population is modeled on the iceberg- eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above. Aldous Huxley
No evidence compels the conclusion that the minimum required intake of any vitamin comes close to the optimum intake that sustains good health. Linus Pauling
In the spiritual life, as in all organic processes, everyone has their optimum and it is just as harmful to go beyond it as not to attain it. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
I decided this early on at Justice: if the traditional way was the most effective way of doing something, then we'd maintain it. But if it was not functioning at optimum levels, we would be doing the country a disservice by continuing to do things "like we've always done them." John Ashcroft
Of course, a positive growth rate might be taken as evidence that a population is below its optimum. Garrett Hardin