different between ultimate vs eternal

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin ultim?tus (“furthest, last”), past participle of Latin ultim?, ultim?re (“to come to an end”), from ultimus (“last, final”). See ultra-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??lt?m?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??lt?m?t/

Adjective

ultimate (not comparable)

1. Final; last in a series.
2. (of a syllable) Last in a word or other utterance.
3. Being the greatest possible; maximum; most extreme.
4. Being the most distant or extreme; farthest.
5. That will happen at some time; eventual.
6. Last in a train of progression or consequences; tended toward by all that precedes; arrived at, as the last result; final.
   • 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection

     those ultimate truths and those universal laws of thought which we cannot rationally contradict

7. Incapable of further analysis; incapable of further division or separation; constituent; elemental.

Synonyms

• (final): See Thesaurus:final
• (most extreme): utmost, uttermost

Antonyms

• (w.r.t. causes): initial, original
• (most extreme): original, derivative

Coordinate terms

• (adjectives denoting syllables): penultimate (last but one), antepenultimate (last but two), preantepenultimate (last but three), propreantepenultimate (last but four)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

ultimate (countable and uncountable, plural ultimates)

1. The most basic or fundamental of a set of things
2. The final or most distant point; the conclusion
3. The greatest extremity; the maximum
4. (uncountable) The game of ultimate frisbee.

Translations

Verb

ultimate (third-person singular simple present ultimates, present participle ultimating, simple past and past participle ultimated)

1. (transitive, archaic) To finish; to complete.
   • 1869, The New-Jerusalem Magazine (volume 41, page 36)

     These measures have been carried forward with a zeal and unanimity that warrant the hope we entertain, of ultimating the plans in respect to our Temple, before the next meeting of the Maryland Association.

Further reading

• ultimate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ultimate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• mutilate

Finnish

Etymology

From English ultimate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ultim?te/, [?ult?i?m?t?e?]
• Rhymes: -?te
• Syllabification: ul?ti?ma?te

Noun

ultimate

1. ultimate frisbee (game)

Declension

Anagrams

• amuletit, amuletti, laitumet, leimattu, leimatut

Italian

Verb

ultimate

1. inflection of ultimare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative
   3. feminine plural past participle

Anagrams

• multiate, mutilate

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ul.ti?ma?.te/, [???t???mä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ul.ti?ma.te/, [ul?t?i?m??t??]

Verb

ultim?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ultim?

English

Alternative forms

• æternal (chiefly archaic)
• æternall, eternall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English eternal, from Old French eternal, from Late Latin aetern?lis, from Latin aeternus (“eternal”), from aevum (“age”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??t?n?l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??t??n?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n?l
• Hyphenation: eter?nal

Adjective

eternal (not comparable)

1. Lasting forever; unending.

   Synonyms: agelong, endless, everlasting, permanent, sempiternal, unending; see also Thesaurus:eternal

   Antonyms: ephemeral, momentary, transient; see also Thesaurus:ephemeral

2. (philosophy) existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly

   Synonyms: timeless, atemporal; see also Thesaurus:timeless

3. (hyperbolic) Constant; perpetual; ceaseless; ever-present.
4. (dated) Exceedingly great or bad; used as an intensifier.

   Synonym: awful

Usage notes

May be used postpositively, as in peace eternal, possibly as a result of Latin influence.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

eternal (plural eternals)

1. One who lives forever; an immortal.

Anagrams

• enteral, teneral

References

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis, attested from the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?.t???nal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?.t?r?nal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /e.te??nal/

Adjective

eternal (masculine and feminine plural eternals)

1. eternal

   Synonym: etern

References

Further reading

• “eternal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “eternal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “eternal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal m or f (plural eternais)

1. (formal) eternal

   Synonym: eterno

Further reading

• “eternal” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• eterneel, eternall

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French eternal, eternel, from Latin aetern?lis; equivalent to eterne +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?r?na?l/, /???t?rnal/, /??t?r?n??l/

Adjective

eternal

1. Eternal, permanent; having existed (and existing) forever.
2. Endless, unending; lasting forever.
3. (rare) Long-lasting; non-ephemeral.

Synonyms

• eterne

Descendants

• English: eternal, tarnal
• Scots: eternal

References

• “?tern??l, -??l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-01-19.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal m (feminine singular eternala, masculine plural eternals, feminine plural eternalas)

1. eternal

   Synonym: etèrn

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal m or f (plural eternais, not comparable)

1. eternal

   Synonym: eterno

Further reading

• “eternal” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal (plural eternales)

1. eternal

   Synonym: eterno

Further reading

• “eternal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.