Abstract. The Hx-projection into finite element spaces based on quasi-uniform partitions of a bounded smooth domain in RN, N > 2 arbitrary, is shown to be stable in the maximum norm (or, in the case of piecewise linear or bilinear functions, almost stable). It is not assumed that the mesh-domains coincide with the basic domain.1. Introduction. Let u be a function on a bounded closed domain "31 with smooth boundary in RN, N > 2. With 0 < h < | a parameter, let % = U*£>, r," be mesh-domains partitioned into finite elements t,a, and assume temporarily that %, Ç <3l. (As will be seen in (1.6) et seq., the last restriction is easy to overcome when applying our result.) Denote by rV^tfl,,) the class of functions with essentially bounded first derivatives (in the distribution sense), and let Sh, 0 < h < \, be finite-dimensional subspaces of W¿(%,), consisting of functions x that vanish on d% and are such that jjj^ E G2(r,h).Define uh = Pu E Sh as the //'-projection of u; i.e.,