ultimatum

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin ultimātum,^[2][3][4] the noun use of the neuter of Late Latin ultimātus (“last, final”),^[5][6][7][8] past participle of ultimō (“to come to an end, be final”),^[5][6][9] from Latin ultimus (“last, farthest, extreme”),^[10] the superlative of *ulter (“beyond”), from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *al- (“beyond”).^[10] Etymonline and Barnhart describe the English word as a specialized use of Medieval Latin ultimātum (“a final statement”),^[10][4] and the Shorter Oxford takes the Latin adjective in its medieval senses "final, completed".^[8] The Romans already used the plural ultimāta as a noun for what is farthest or last.^[10] The word is the same in ultimatum, ultimatum, Ultimatum and ultimatum.^[5] It is related to ultimate.^[10][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In diplomacy, the final terms that one power puts to another, whose rejection may break off relations or lead to war: 1731, in the Gentleman's Magazine.^[5][4][3] Etymonline dates it to 1731 as well.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word passed quickly from diplomacy to private life: in 1733 Swift, in a letter to Pope, used it for any final condition, one's last word on a matter.^[5][4] From 1748, in Richardson's Clarissa, it could also mean the final point or extreme limit of something, an ultimate end or aim,^[5][8] a sense Merriam-Webster still records.^[3] In the 1820s it was slang for the buttocks.^[5][11][10] In the mid-19th century it was used of a primary element beyond which analysis cannot go (Holmes, 1858) and of a furthest destination (Carlyle, 1862).^[5] A verb, to present someone with an ultimatum, appears in 1897 and has stayed rare.^[5][8] English uses both plurals, ultimatums and the Latin ultimata.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 1731 – the final terms put by one power to another in diplomacy.^[5][4][3]
• 1733 – a final condition or stipulation, one's last word, in a letter of Swift.^[5][4]
• 1748 – the final point or extreme limit; an ultimate end or aim.^[5]
• 1823 – slang, the buttocks (obsolete).^[5] Green's Dictionary of Slang quotes it from 1825.^[11]
• 1858 – a primary element beyond which analysis is impossible.^[5][8]
• 1862 – the furthest destination.^[5]
• 1897 – verb, to present with an ultimatum.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A final demand or statement of terms by one party, especially a government, whose rejection will end negotiations and lead to force, retaliation or a break in relations: The two governments exchanged ultimatums before the border closed.^[3][12][5]
2. Any final or peremptory demand, offer or proposal: She gave her landlord an ultimatum about the leaking roof.^[12][5]
3. The farthest point or stage to be reached; a final aim or end.^[3][5][8]
4. (obsolete slang, 1823–1825) The buttocks.^[5][11]

Verb

1. (rare) To present someone with an ultimatum.^[5][8]

Related words

• ulterior
• ultimate
• ultra
• ultra-
• ultimately
• penultimate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins