Ultimate

(45), a. [L. Lat. ultimatus, last, extreme, from Lat. ultimare, to come to an end, from ultimus, the furthest, last, superl. of ulter, that is beyond. See supra.] 1. Furthest; most remote; extreme; last; final. “My harbor and my ultimate repose.” Milton. Many actions apt to procure fame are not conducive 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; as, an ultimate element. Ultimate analysis (Chem.), the resolution of a substance into its elements;—opposed to proximate analysis.—Ultimate ratio (Math.), the limiting term of a ratio, or that toward which a series tends, and which it does not pass. Syn.—Final; conclusive. See FINAL.