Op"ti*mate (?), a. [L. optimas, -atis, adj., optimates, n. pl., the
adherents of the best men, the aristocrats, fr. optimus the best.] Of
or pertaining to the nobility or aristocracy. [R.] -- n. A nobleman or
aristocrat; a chief man in a state or city. [R.] Chapman.
||Op`ti*ma"tes (?), n. pl. [L. See Optimate.] The nobility or
||aristocracy of ancient Rome, as opposed to the populares.
Op"ti*me (?), n. [L., adv. fr. optimus the best.] One of those who
stand in the second rank of honors, immediately after the wranglers, in
the University of Cambridge, England. They are divided into senior and
junior optimes.
Op"ti*mism (?), n. [L. optimus the best; akin to optio choice: cf. F.
optimisme. See Option.]
1. (Metaph.) The opinion or doctrine that everything in nature, being
the work of God, is ordered for the best, or that the ordering of
things in the universe is such as to produce the highest good.
2. A disposition to take the most hopeful view; -- opposed to
pessimism.