raie ultime

See also: Raie Ultime

English

Alternative forms

• Raie Ultime

Etymology

First attested in the plural in February 1910 and in the singular in 1920; French: raie (“line”) + ultime (“final”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɹeɪ ulˈtim/

Noun

raie ultime (plural raies ultimes)

1. (spectroscopy) The line in an atomic spectrum that results from a transition to the lowest level of excitation from the first higher non-metastable level.
   • 1910 February 10, Nature, LXXXII, page 440:

     In the second paper M. de Gramont considers the distribution of raies ultimes in different stellar types, having studied for this purpose the Harvard classifications, the numerous publications of Sir Norman Lockyer, and the works of Sir William Huggins.

   • 1920, Optical Methods in Control and Research Laboratories, page 4:

     De Gramont distinguished by the name of Raie Ultime that line in the spectrum of an element which is the last to disappear.