ack emma
Preserved but no longer current.
See PIP EMMA. Acme (ak'rm) (Gr. a point). The highest pitch of perfection; the term used by old medical writers for the crisis of a disease. They divided the progress of a disease into four periods: the atche, or beginning; the anabasis, or increase; the acme> or term of its utmost violence; and the paracme, or decline.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “ack emma” mean?
See PIP EMMA. Acme (ak'rm) (Gr. a point). The highest pitch of perfection; the term used by old medical writers for the crisis of a disease. They divided the progress of a disease into four periods: the atche, or beginning; the anabasis, or increase; the acme> or term of its utmost violence; and the paracme, or decline.
Is “ack emma” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.