極める

Japanese

Kanji in this term
極
きわ Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
窮める

Etymology 1

From classical verb 極む (kiwamu), itself from 際 (kiwa, “edge, brink”) + verb-forming suffix む (mu, “seems like, having that quality”, see also related classical suffix ぶ (bu) and modern derivative びる (biru)).

Development

Natural progression from Old and Classical Japanese 下(しも)二(に)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verbs ending in -u to modern Japanese 下(しも)一(いち)段(だん)活(かつ)用(よう) (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”) verbs ending in -eru.

Verb

極(きわ)める • (kiwameru) ^{←きはめる (kifameru)^?}transitive ichidan (stem 極(きわ)め (kiwame), past 極(きわ)めた (kiwameta))

Japanese verb pair
active	極める
mediopassive	極まる

to carry to extremes, carry to the end

Conjugation

Conjugation of "極める" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	極め	きわめ	kiwame
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	極め	きわめ	kiwame
Shūshikei ("terminal")	極める	きわめる	kiwameru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	極める	きわめる	kiwameru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	極めれ	きわめれ	kiwamere
Meireikei ("imperative")	極めよ¹ 極めろ²	きわめよ¹ きわめろ²	kiwameyo¹ kiwamero²
Key constructions
Passive	極められる	きわめられる	kiwamerareru
Causative	極めさせる極めさす	きわめさせるきわめさす	kiwamesaseru kiwamesasu
Potential	極められる極めれる³	きわめられるきわめれる³	kiwamerareru kiwamereru³
Volitional	極めよう	きわめよう	kiwameyō
Negative	極めない極めぬ極めん	きわめないきわめぬきわめん	kiwamenai kiwamenu kiwamen
Negative continuative	極めず	きわめず	kiwamezu
Formal	極めます	きわめます	kiwamemasu
Perfective	極めた	きわめた	kiwameta
Conjunctive	極めて	きわめて	kiwamete
Hypothetical conditional	極めれば	きわめれば	kiwamereba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

極(きわ)めて (kiwamete)
極(きわ)め付(つ)き (kiwametsuki)
極(きわ)め札(ふだ) (kiwamefuda)
一(いち)極(きわ)め (ichikiwame)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
極
き Grade: 4
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 極める – see the following entry.

【決きめる】

[verb] to make a choice between multiple alternatives, to decide

[verb] to decide to do something: to do something on purpose

[verb] to perform a maneuver, to carry out a tactical action

[verb] to decide on an opinion: to believe in an opinion firmly

[verb] to decide on a common course of action: to be accustomed to do, to do habitually

[verb] to make an impressive or attractive physical appearance, usually by grooming oneself or making some unusual gestures

(This term, 極める, is an alternative spelling (less common) of the above term.)

References

“極める”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026