aclumsen, aclomsen

i. To grow clumsy. *a - clum'-sid, * a-clom-sid, a. [A.S.] Benumbed with cold. ( Wycliffe.) ắc-mē, s. [In Fr. acmé; fr. ἀκμή ( akme ) = a point or edge, the highest point: ἀκή ( ake ) = a point or edge.] I. Ordinary Language: 1. Gen. The top or highest point ( figura . tively rather than literally ). Till lately the word acme was so imperfectly naturalised in our language that it was expre ed in Greek letters. Jeremy Taylor, South, Culver well, and Phillips write it so. (Trench: On some Deficiencies in our Eng. Dict . , p. 30; Eng. Past and Present , p. 46.) "The Latin language was judged not to have come to its ἀκμή or flourishing height of elegance until the age in which Cicero lived."- Phillips : Pref . New World of Words , 3rd ed. (A.D. 1671). "Its acme of human prosperity and greatne ." Burke: A Regicide Peace. 2. Spec.: Mature age. "He must be one that can instruct your youth, And keep your aeme in the state of truth." Ben Jonson: Staple of News, Prol. II. Technically : 1. Med. Used by the Greeks to designate the height of a disease, a meaning which it still retains. 2. Rhet. The height of pathos to which a speaker has risen by means of a climax.