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Definition of ultimate

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ul·ti·mate  audio  (lt-mt) KEY  

ADJECTIVE:
  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 last 1.
  5. Eventual: hoped for ultimate victory.
NOUN:
  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.
ETYMOLOGY:
Latin ultimtus, past participle of ultimre, to come to an end, from ultimus, last, superlative of *ulter, on the other side; see al- 1 in Indo-European roots


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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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