Adjacent Words

Ultimate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UL'TIMATE, a. [L. ultimus, furthest.]
1. Furthest; most remote; extreme. We have not yet arrived at the ultimate point of progression.
2. Final; being that to which all the rest is directed, as to the main object. The ultimate end of our actions should be the glory of God, or the display of his exalted excellence. The ultimate end and aim of men is to be happy, and to attain to this end, we must yield that obedience which will honor the law and character of God.
3. Last in a train of consequences; intended in the last resort.
Many actions apt to procure fame, are not conductive to this our ultimate happiness.
4. Last; terminating; being at the furthest point.
5. The last into which a substance can be resolved; constituent.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme; "the ultimate achievement"; "the ultimate question"; "man's ultimate destiny"; "the ultimate insult"; "one's ultimate goal in life" [ant: proximate]
2: being the last or concluding element of a series; "the ultimate sonata of that opus"; "a distinction between the verb and noun senses of `conflict' is that in the verb the stress is on the ultimate (or last) syllable" n
1: the finest or most superior quality of its kind; "the ultimate in luxury"

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Medieval Latin ultimatus last, final, from Late Latin, past participle of ultimare to come to an end, be last, from Latin ultimus farthest, last, final, superlative of Latin *ulter situated beyond Date: 1640 1. a. most remote in space or time ; farthest b. last in a progression or series ; final <their ultimate destination was Paris> c. eventual 2 <they hoped for ultimate success> d. the best or most extreme of its kind ; utmost <the ultimate sacrifice> 2. arrived at as the last result <the ultimate question> 3. a. basic, fundamental <the ultimate nature of things — A. N. Whitehead> b. original 1 <the ultimate source> c. incapable of further analysis, division, or separation 4. maximum 1 Synonyms: see last • ultimateness noun II. noun Date: 1681 1. something ultimate; especially fundamental 2. acme III. verb (-mated; -mating) Date: circa 1834 end

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 last, final. 2 beyond which no other exists or is possible (the ultimate analysis). 3 fundamental, primary, unanalysable (ultimate truths). 4 maximum (ultimate tensile strength). --n. 1 (prec. by the) the best achievable or imaginable. 2 a final or fundamental fact or principle. Derivatives: ultimately adj. ultimateness n. Etymology: LL ultimatus past part. of ultimare come to an end

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Analysis A*nal"y*sis, n.; pl. Analyses. [Gr. ?, fr. ? to unloose, to dissolve, to resolve into its elements; ? up + ? to loose. See Loose.] 1. A resolution of anything, whether an object of the senses or of the intellect, into its constituent or original elements; an examination of the component parts of a subject, each separately, as the words which compose a sentence, the tones of a tune, or the simple propositions which enter into an argument. It is opposed to synthesis. 2. (Chem.) The separation of a compound substance, by chemical processes, into its constituents, with a view to ascertain either (a) what elements it contains, or (b) how much of each element is present. The former is called qualitative, and the latter quantitative analysis. 3. (Logic) The tracing of things to their source, and the resolving of knowledge into its original principles. 4. (Math.) The resolving of problems by reducing the conditions that are in them to equations. 5. (a) A syllabus, or table of the principal heads of a discourse, disposed in their natural order. (b) A brief, methodical illustration of the principles of a science. In this sense it is nearly synonymous with synopsis. 6. (Nat. Hist.) The process of ascertaining the name of a species, or its place in a system of classification, by means of an analytical table or key. Ultimate, Proximate, Qualitative, Quantitative, and Volumetric analysis. (Chem.) See under Ultimate, Proximate, Qualitative, etc.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. You use ultimate to describe the final result or aim of a long series of events. He said it is still not possible to predict the ultimate outcome... The ultimate aim is to expand the network further. = eventual ADJ: ADJ n 2. You use ultimate to describe the original source or cause of something. Plants are the ultimate source of all foodstuffs... The ultimate cause of what's happened seems to have been the advertising campaign. = fundamental ADJ: ADJ n 3. You use ultimate to describe the most important or powerful thing of a particular kind. ...the ultimate power of the central government... Of course, the ultimate authority remained the presidency... ADJ: ADJ n 4. You use ultimate to describe the most extreme and unpleasant example of a particular thing. Bringing back the death penalty would be the ultimate abuse of human rights... ADJ: ADJ n 5. You use ultimate to describe the best possible example of a particular thing. Caviar and oysters on ice are generally considered the ultimate luxury foods. = definitive ADJ: ADJ n 6. The ultimate in something is the best or most advanced example of it. This hotel is the ultimate in luxury... PHRASE: PHR n/-ing, usu v-link PHR, PHR after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Last, final, farthest, extreme, eventual, most remote. 2. Constituent, incapable of further analysis. II. v. a., v. n. 1. Eventuate, end, terminate, issue, conclude. 2. Bring into use, carry into practice.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, acmatic, acme, acme of perfection, apical, apotheosis, approaching, basic, binding, boundary, capital, categorical, caudal, chief, climax, closing, collateral, coming, complete, completing, completive, completory, compulsory, conclude, concluding, conclusive, consummate, consummation, consummative, contingent, crowning, culminating, culmination, deciding, decisive, decretory, definitive, desired, destinal, destined, determinative, determine, determined, dictated, elemental, emergent, empyreal, empyrean, end, endmost, entailed, epitome, essential, eventual, exalted, extrapolated, extreme, farthermost, farthest, farthest off, fatal, fated, fatidic, final, finalizing, finish, finishing, forthcoming, fulfilling, fundamental, furthermost, furthest, future, futuristic, grand, greatest, hard-and-fast, head, headmost, height, hereafter, highest, highest pitch, hindmost, hoped-for, imminent, imperative, imposed, incomparable, indirect, irrevocable, lag, last, last word, later, latest, latter, limiting, lofty, mandated, mandatory, maximal, maximum, meridian, meridional, most distant, must, ne plus ultra, nearing, obligatory, overmost, paramount, peak, peremptory, perfection, pink, pink of perfection, pinnacle, planned, plotted, polar, predicted, preeminent, prescript, prescriptive, primary, probable, projected, prophesied, prospective, quintessence, remotest, required, secondary, sublime, summit, summital, supreme, surpassing, tail, terminal, terminate, terminating, terminative, tip-top, to come, to-be, top, topmost, towering, transcendent, transcendental, underlying, unmatchable, unsurpassable, upmost, uppermost, utmost, uttermost, vertical, wind up, without appeal, wrap up, zenithal