# optimal

Pronunciation: say "OP-ti-muhl" US /ˈɑptɪməl/, UK /ˈɒptɪməl/

## Adjective

1. Best, most favorable, or most desirable, especially within certain limits or constraints.
   - Simple: The best possible, especially when there are limits on what you can do.
   - _Engineers worked to find the optimal trade-off between fuel economy and power._
   - _With only two weeks and a small budget, a train trip was the optimal choice._
2. Of a search algorithm, always returning the best result.
   - Simple: Used about a computer search method that always finds the best answer.
   - _Breadth-first search is optimal only when every step has the same cost._
   - _Greedy search is fast, but it is not optimal, since it can settle on a worse path._

## Other meanings

- (noun) The best of its kind

## Origin

From Latin optimus with the suffix -al.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/optimal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).