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ultimate - 5 dictionary results

ul⋅ti⋅mate

  [uhl-tuh-mit]
Use ultimate in a Sentence
–adjective
1. last; furthest or farthest; ending a process or series: the ultimate point in a journey; the ultimate style in hats.
2. maximum; decisive; conclusive: the ultimate authority; the ultimate weapon.
3. highest; not subsidiary: ultimate goal in life.
4. basic; fundamental; representing a limit beyond which further progress, as in investigation or analysis, is impossible: the ultimate particle; ultimate principles.
5. final; total: the ultimate consequences; the ultimate cost of a project.
6. not to be improved upon or surpassed; greatest; unsurpassed: the ultimate vacation spot; the ultimate stupidity.
–noun
7. the final point; final result.
8. a fundamental fact or principle.
9. the best, greatest, or most extreme of its kind.
Origin:
1645–55; < LL ultimātus (ptp. of ultimāre to come to an end), equiv. to L ultim(us) last, most distant (see ultima ) + -ātus -ate 1

Related forms:
ul⋅ti⋅mate⋅ly, adverb
ul⋅ti⋅mate⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. extreme, remotest, uttermost. 2. supreme. 5. See last 1 .

Antonyms:
5. first.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ultimate
ul·ti·mate   (ŭl'tə-mĭt)   
adj.  
  1. Being last in a series, process, or progression: "As the ultimate arbiter of the Constitution, the Supreme Court occupies a central place in our scheme of government" (Richard A. Epstein).
  2. Fundamental; elemental: an ultimate truth.
    1. Of the greatest possible size or significance; maximum: Has the ultimate diamond been found?
    2. Representing or exhibiting the greatest possible development or sophistication: the ultimate bicycle.
    3. Utmost; extreme: the ultimate insult.
  4. Being most distant or remote; farthest. See Synonyms at last1.
  5. Eventual: hoped for ultimate victory.
n.  
  1. The basic or fundamental fact, element, or principle.
  2. The final point; the conclusion.
  3. The greatest extreme; the maximum: actions that represented the ultimate in political expediency.

[Latin ultimātus, past participle of ultimāre, to come to an end, from ultimus, last, superlative of *ulter, on the other side; see al-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ultimate

Ul"ti*mate\, a. [LL. ultimatus last, extreme, fr. L. ultimare to come to an end, fr. ultimus the farthest, last, superl. from the same source as ulterior. See Ulterior, and cf. Ultimatum.]

1. Farthest; most remote in space or time; extreme; last; final.

My harbor, and my ultimate repose. --Milton.

Many actions apt to procure fame are not conductive to this our ultimate happiness. --Addison.

2. Last in a train of progression or consequences; tended toward by all that precedes; arrived at, as the last result; final.

Those ultimate truths and those universal laws of thought which we can not rationally contradict. --Coleridge.

3. Incapable of further analysis; incapable of further division or separation; constituent; elemental; as, an ultimate constituent of matter.

Ultimate analysis (Chem.), organic analysis. See under Organic.

Ultimate belief. See under Belief.

Ultimate ratio (Math.), the limiting value of a ratio, or that toward which a series tends, and which it does not pass.

Syn: Final; conclusive. See Final.

Ultimate

Ul"ti*mate\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Ultimated; p. pr. & vb. n. Ultimating.]

1. To come or bring to an end; to eventuate; to end. [R.]

2. To come or bring into use or practice. [R.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ultimate
Spanish: último, final; definitivo,
German: letzt,
Japanese: 究極の
More Translations »

ultimate 
1654, from L.L. ultimatus, pp. of ultimare "to be final, come to an end," from ultimus "last, final," superlative of *ulter "beyond" (see ultra). Ultimate Frisbee is attested from 1972.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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