[ul.ti.mate] adj [ML ultimatus last, final, fr. LL, pp. of ultimare to come to an end, be last, fr. L ultimus farthest, last, final, superl. of (assumed) L ulter situated beyond] (1654) 1 a: most remote in space or time: farthest b: last in a progression or series "their ~ destination was Paris" c: eventual "they hoped for ~ success" d: the best or most extreme of its kind: utmost "the ~ sacrifice"
2: arrived at as the last result "the ~ question" 3 a: basic, fundamental "the ~ nature of things --A. N. Whitehead" b: original "the ~ source" c: incapable of further analysis, division, or separation
4: maximum syn see last -- ul.ti.mate.ness n
[2]ultimate n (1681) 1: something ultimate; esp: fundamental
2: acme [3]ul.ti.mate vb -mat.ed ; -mat.ing (ca. 1834): end