last; furthest or farthest; ending a process or series:the ultimate point in a journey; the ultimate style in hats.
maximum; decisive; conclusive:the ultimate authority; the ultimate weapon.
highest; not subsidiary:ultimate goal in life.
basic; fundamental; representing a limit beyond which further progress, as in investigation or analysis, is impossible:the ultimate particle; ultimate principles.
final; total:the ultimate consequences; the ultimate cost of a project.
not to be improved upon or surpassed; greatest; unsurpassed:the ultimate vacation spot; the ultimate stupidity.
n.
the final point; final result.
a fundamental fact or principle.
the best, greatest, or most extreme of its kind.
Late Latin ultimātus (past participle of ultimāre to come to an end), equivalent. to Latin ultim(us) last, most distant (see ultima) + -ātus -ate1
1645–55
ul′ti•mate•ly, adv. ul′ti•mate•ness, n.
1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged extreme, remotest, uttermost.
2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged supreme.
5.See corresponding entry in Unabridged See last1.