- Ultimate ratio
- 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.
[1913 Webster]
My harbor, and my ultimate repose. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Many actions apt to procure fame are not conductive to this our ultimate happiness. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
2. Last in a train of progression or consequences; tended toward by all that precedes; arrived at, as the last result; final. [1913 Webster]
Those ultimate truths and those universal laws of thought which we can not rationally contradict. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
3. Incapable of further analysis; incapable of further division or separation; constituent; elemental; as, an ultimate constituent of matter. [1913 Webster]
{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. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Final; conclusive. See {Final}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
