So I was in Phoenix getting ready for some meetings, putting my agenda on paper and I came to the heading that needed changed. Was it axiom or maxim I wanted to use. What's the difference? What's the good word? So of course I headed to this blog for elucidation and found that only one of these words has been covered. (Maxim, as indicated by the link to the post on short expressions.)
Now's the time. And now, after a hiatus of months I have motivation for a new post.
Axiom is defined as a self-evident truth or a universally accepted principle or rule. It came to English in the late 1400s from the Middle French word axiome, which the Middle French got from the Latin word axioma, which they took from the Greek word axioma that meant "authority" in general but literally is "that which is thought worthy or fit" according to etymonline.com.
Maxim is defined as an expression of a general truth or principle, especially one that is aphoristic or sententious.
So the difference is that axiom is a self-evident truth while maxim is a general truth. Axioms are universally accepted while maxims are only generally accepted. (Although the blog post tells that the Latin word means literally "greatest premise, greatest among propositions." So maybe a maxim beats an axiom which beats a pair of nines.) And an axiom deals with a principle or rule while a maxim deals with a principle or truth. That explains it, doesn't it?
I decided the word I wanted to use was apothegm. Now I'll go back to blog sleep.
