ne plus ultra
"ne-plus-ultra" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ne plus ultra” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The highest, ultimate point of achievement which can be reached; perfection.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ne-plus-ultra · ne plus ultra · English
ne plus ultra · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ne plus ultra |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ne plus ultra” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ne plus ultra is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ne plus ultra, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin nē plūs ultrā. The correct English form is ne plus ultra, spelled N-E- -P-L-U-S- -U-L-T-R-A.
Definition
- 1The highest, ultimate point of achievement which can be reached; perfection.
- 2The perfect or most extreme example of its kind; the ultimate.
- 3A prohibition against proceeding further; an insuperable obstacle or limiting condition.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ne plus ultra appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Suppers were the ne plus ultra of human invention; it could go no further, and was obliged to degenerate; dinner is too much matter of business, it is a necessity: now, a necessity is too like a duty ever to be pleasant.
November 30, 2014, Julia Kavanagh, Rome: The ‘ne plus ultra’ of Arthttps://camel76.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/rome-the-ne-plus-ultra-of-art/ It doesn’t get any better than this because Rome, like Florence, is the ne plus ultra of art.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin nē plūs ultrā.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.