non plus ultra
\nɔ̃.ply.z‿yl.tʁa\
The verdict
“non plus ultra” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Nec plus ultra, limite infranchissable.
Corpus desk
Index FR-non-plus-ultra · non plus ultra · French
non plus ultra · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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 | non plus ultra |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \nɔ̃.ply.z‿yl.tʁa\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « non plus ultra » en français
Rare enough to double-check
non plus ultra is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \nɔ̃.ply.z‿yl.tʁa\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Nec plus ultra, limite infranchissable.".
non plus ultra has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is non plus ultra, spelled N-O-N- -P-L-U-S- -U-L-T-R-A.
Definition
- 1Nec plus ultra, limite infranchissable.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how non plus ultra appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Metz fut le non plus ultra de Charles-Quint.
[…] des appartements de Charles-Quint, outrageusement dévastés, qui n’ont plus rien de curieux que leurs plafonds chamarrés de l’ambitieuse devise : Non plus ultra.
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.