ultra-

See also: ultra and ultrà

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Latin uls

Proto-Indo-European *-teros?

Latin -ter

Latin -ā

Latin ultrālbor.

English ultra-

Borrowed from Latin ultrā (“beyond”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌltɹə/

Prefix

ultra-

1. Greater than normal quantity or importance, as in ultrasecret.
2. Beyond, on the far side of, as in ultraviolet.
3. Beyond, outside of, as in ultrasonic.
4. Excessively, to an extreme, as in ultramicroscopic, ultra-careful.
   • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], volume 188, number 23, page 19:

     In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]  The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra-wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.

5. (augmentative) intensely, extremely, or exceptional

Usage notes

• Productive in all senses. The hyphen is included when the use is relatively unfamiliar, as in ultra-careful.

Synonyms

• (beyond): trans-, para-, hyper-, out-, extra-, preter-
• (on the far side of): trans-
• (excessively): over-, hyper-, ana-
• (augmentative): super-, supra-, hyper-, uber-, macro-, arch-, over-, mega-, maxi-, giga-, -zilla, grand

Antonyms

• infra-

Derived terms

• ultra-scalable

English terms prefixed with ultra-

Translations

greater than normal quantity or importance

• Bulgarian: свръх (bg) (svrǎh)
• Finnish: huippu- (fi), erikois-, ultra- (fi)
• Greek: υπερ- (el) (yper-)
• Japanese: 超 (ja) (ちょう, chō)
• Malay: ultra- (ms)
• Russian: сверх- (ru) (sverx-)
• Scottish Gaelic: os-

beyond, on the far side of

• Bulgarian: крайно (bg) (krajno)
• Czech: ultra-
• Finnish: yli- (fi), ultra- (fi)
• Japanese: 超 (ja) (ちょう, chō)
• Russian: ультра- (ru) (ulʹtra-)
• Scottish Gaelic: os-

beyond, outside of

• Bulgarian: извънредно (bg) (izvǎnredno)
• Finnish: yli- (fi), ultra- (fi)
• Japanese: 超 (ja) (ちょう, chō)
• Russian: сверх- (ru) (sverx-)
• Scottish Gaelic: os-

excessively, to an extreme

• Finnish: yli- (fi), ultra- (fi)
• French: ultra- (fr)
• Japanese: 超 (ja) (ちょう, chō)
• Russian: ультра- (ru) (ulʹtra-), сверх- (ru) (sverx-)
• Scottish Gaelic: os-

Anagrams

• lutar

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ultra ]

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

   ‎ultra- + ‎fialový → ‎ultrafialový

Derived terms

Czech terms prefixed with ultra-

Further reading

• “ultra-”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ultra-”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• ultra- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ultrā (“beyond”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ultra-/, [ˈultˢʁ̥ɑˈ-], [ˈultˢʁ̥ɑˌ-]

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra- (beyond, on the far side of; beyond, outside of)
   • ultralyd, ultraviolet
2. (informal) ultra- (greater than normal quantity or importance, excessively, to an extreme)
   • ultralet, ultrakort, ultramoderne, ultratynd

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ultrā (“beyond”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʏl.traː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra- (beyond, on the far side of; beyond, outside of)

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English ultra-), ultimately from Latin ultrā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈultrɑ-/, [ˈul̪.t̪rɑ̝-]

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

Finnish terms prefixed with ultra-

• ultrata

 

Further reading

• “ultra-”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

French

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

French terms prefixed with ultra-

German

Etymology

From Latin ultrā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʊltʁa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Usage notes

• In political buzzwords (like ultrakonservativ), this suffix is derogatory.

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with ultra-

• ultraradikal
• ultrareaktionär

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ultrā (“beyond”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈultrɒ]
• Hyphenation: ult‧ra

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

Hungarian nouns prefixed with ultra-

Hungarian adjectives prefixed with ultra-

Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ultrā (“beyond”).

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with ultra-

Italian

Etymology

From Latin ultrā (“beyond”).

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with ultra-

Norwegian Bokmål

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra- (as for English)

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål terms prefixed with ultra-

References

• “ultra-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra- (as for English)

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk terms prefixed with ultra-

References

• “ultra-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin ultrā.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /uw.tɾa/ [uʊ̯.tɾa]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ul.tɾɐ/ [uɫ.tɾɐ]

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with ultra-

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin ultrā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ultɾa/ [ul̪.t̪ɾa]
• Syllabification: ul‧tra-

Prefix

ultra-

1. ultra-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with ultra-

Further reading

• “ultra-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10