喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture a long line of things and then the very last one, with nothing beyond it. Standing at that far end gives the word its flavour: the final step, the final say, and the version nobody can top.

可以想成一長排東西，然後是最尾端的那一個，後面再也沒有了。這個「站在最遠那一端」的位置，就是這個字的味道來源：最後發…更多收起可以想成一長排東西，然後是最尾端的那一個，後面再也沒有了。這個「站在最遠那一端」的位置，就是這個字的味道來源：最後發生的一步、最後拍板的人、以及好到沒有人蓋得過的那一個。

From the word’s history

From Late Latin ultimatus, from ultimus 'last, final, farthest, most distant', on a root meaning 'beyond'. The English adjective appears around the 1650s, the noun by the 1680s.

來自晚期拉丁文 ultimatus，源頭是 ultimus「最後的、最遠的」，再往前的字根意思是「超出、之外」。形容詞約 1650 年代進入英文，名詞用法 1680 年代出現。所以它畫的是位置——排在最尾端、再過去就沒有了；今天的「最終」和「極致」都是從這個位置長出來的。

Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/ultimate

Three branches

排在最後的那一步

核心畫面本身：時間上最尾端的那一個，包括你一路做下來想要的那個結果。

final, at the end · adjective · B2

Happening at the very end of a long process or period of time.

最後的

最後拍板的權責

最尾端換成一條上呈的線：案子一層一層往上送，到他那裡就不能再往上了。

final authority · adjective · B2

Having the final power or duty to decide something important.

最終的（決定權）

沒有更強的了：極致

這次的最尾端排的是程度：把同類東西從弱排到強，它站在再也走不過去的那一端。

the greatest, extreme · adjective · B2

Better, bigger, or more extreme than all others of the same kind.

極致的

原始詞典資料12 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

ultimateadj/ˈʌltɪmət/

  • 1

    Final; last in a series.

    • […] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]
  • 2

    Last in a word or other utterance.

  • 3

    Being the greatest possible; maximum; most extreme.

    • the ultimate pleasure
    • the ultimate disappointment
  • 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.

    • 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.

    • an ultimate constituent of matter

ultimatenoun/ˈʌltɪmət/

  • 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

ultimateverb/ˈʌltɪmət/

  • 1

    archaicTo finish; to complete.

    • 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.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。