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Ultima thule
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of Arrokoth (“trans-Neptunian object (486958) 2014 MU69”). informal
"With substantial public input, the team has chosen “Ultima Thule” (pronounced ultima thoo-lee”) for the Kuiper Belt object the New Horizons spacecraft will explore on Jan. 1, 2019."
- 1 A place beyond the borders of the known world.
"Ultima Thule! Utmost Isle! / Here in thy harbors for a while / We lower our sails; a while we rest / From the unending, endless quest."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of ultima Thule (“a place beyond the known world; highest achievement”). alt-of
"[…]the metropolis of our far west, and about as neat and picturesque an assize town as ever was, with its fine old castle overhanging the river, and, like many of these Ultimæ Thules of civilisation, having several good shops and handsome churches !"
- 3 Alternative letter-case form of ultima Thule (“a place beyond the known world; highest achievement”). alt-of
- 4 Highest achievement.
Etymology
From Latin ultima Thūlē, nominative feminine singular of ultimus (“furthest”) + Thule, from mediaeval geography; originally from the Ancient Greek Θούλη (Thoúlē), a (possibly mythical) island to the north of Britain.
Capitalization of ultima Thule, from Latin ultima (“final; furthest”) + Thule (“northernmost inhabited island”).
From ultima Thule (“furthest place; a place beyond the known world”). The object was first observed in 2014 and announced later that year as a potential target for NASA's New Horizons probe. In March 2018, after inviting suggestions from the public, NASA selected Ultima Thule as its nickname. Once it was determined that the body was a bilobate contact binary, the New Horizons team began calling the larger lobe Ultima and the smaller Thule.
See also for "ultima thule"
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Unscramble this word: ultimathule