Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb In or of the month before the present one.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In the month which preceded the present; in the last month, as distinguished from the current or present month and all others.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- In the month immediately preceding the present; ; -- usually abbreviated to ult. Cf.
proximo .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective obsolete On the last day (of a specified month).
- adverb Of last month.
- noun obsolete, rare =
ultimum
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective in or of the month preceding the present one
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Besides the loss which he sustained on the night of the 23d ultimo, which is estimated at 400, he cannot have suffered less between that period and the morning of the 18th instant than 3000; having, within that time, been repulsed in two general attempts to drive us from our position, and there having been continual cannonading and skirmishing during the whole of it.
The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 J. F. Loubat
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A pair of diverticula arise from the fifth branchial pouch and form what are termed the ultimo-branchial bodies (Fig. 1175): these fuse with the thyroid gland, but probably contribute no true thyroid tissue.
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I have to thank you for your favor of the 31st ultimo, which is just now received.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 Thomas Jefferson 1784
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MY DEAR SIR, -- I have to thank you for your favor of the 31st ultimo, which is just now received.
Letters 1760
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The rest of the class looked at me like I was crazy, because 'ultimo' in Spanish means only 'last' or 'most recent' and not 'definitive'.
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All the ultimate hum about Virna Lisi only during TrendHeadlines.com. ultimo spettacolo: A domanda rispondo.
Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009
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La gente que se siente afectada por no tener el ultimo chichito tecnologico o pagarlo un poco más, solo piensan en su hedonismo y no en el país, que sí necesita afianzar su industria, como la supo tener y que necesita dar trabajo a los argentinos, en lugar de darle trabajo a los obreros de otras latitudes; es muy mezquina la actitud de los detractores a esta idea.
Global Voices in English » Argentina: Proposal to Increase Taxes on Some Technology Products 2009
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May 3rd, 2010 at 8: 54 pm federico dio un concierto aqui en chicago en el ultimo verano a la festival Lollapalooza.
Federico Aubele – La Esquina « Esl Videos « Videos « Literacy News 2010
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All the ultimate hum about Virna Lisi only during TrendHeadlines.com. ultimo spettacolo: A domanda rispondo.
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Lo ultimo que dijeron fue que harian lo posible para que terminara viejo la carrera osea que no me dejarian terminar jamas.
whichbe commented on the word ultimo
Ultimo, together with instant and proximo, is an example of an outdated commercial language. Few businessmen would today begin a letter "With reference to yours of the 14th ultimo", or "yours of the 23rd instant", or "Please attend this office for interview on the 11th proximo", but it was once standard and taught in the best books. All three were commonly abbreviated, to ult, inst and prox respectively.
Ultimo and proximo are both Latin, shortened forms of ultimo mense, in the previous month, and proximo mense, in the next month. Many reference works say inst is from Latin instante mense, in the current month. But the Oxford English Dictionary points out that it has always been expanded to the English word instant, in the specialised meaning of current.
By 1922, such terms were being satirised in Punch:
Bear up, brave clerklets, though the lights of learning
Your quaint commercial English sadly shocks,
And even your bosses are agreed in spurning
Your "inst", and "ult", and "prox".
I like the pleasant jargon: I should miss it
If firms no more ("per pro" before their name)
Should "thank me for past favours and solicit
Continuance of the same".
(from World Wide Words)
May 21, 2008
qms commented on the word ultimo
If you would let your learning show
Do not cite simply "a month ago,"
Nor deal out the scanty,
Like "pre-" and wee "ante-,"
When you can impress with "ultimo."
January 30, 2015
philipmassey commented on the word ultimo
If the meaning of "ultimo" pertains to a preceding period of time, how did it come to have such common usage in musical theatre as referring to the last number of the show--"finale ultimo"? Based on that phrase, I always thought "ultimo" meant "ultimate" or "grand," i.e., the grand finale of the show.
January 31, 2015
qms commented on the word ultimo
A very simple sense of "ultimo" is "last" - last month, last finale. Seems pretty direct to me.
January 31, 2015