ne plus ultra

Borrowed from Latin nē plūs ultrā.

• enPR: /nē' plŭs ŭl'trə/

ne plus ultra (plural ne plus ultras)

1. The highest, ultimate point of achievement which can be reached; perfection.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 74:

     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 Art

     It doesn’t get any better than this because Rome, like Florence, is the ne plus ultra of art.

2. The perfect or most extreme example of its kind; the ultimate.
3. (rare) A prohibition against proceeding further; an insuperable obstacle or limiting condition.

Ellipsis of a subjunctive verb like prōgrediāris (“may you advance”); or reinterpreted as a negative result clause with ellipsis of fierī possit (“so that ... is impossible”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /neː pluːs ˈul.traː/, [neː pɫ̪uːs̠ ˈʊɫ̪t̪räː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ne plus ˈul.tra/, [nɛː plus ˈul̪t̪rä]

nē plūs ultra

1. Alternative form of nōn plūs ultrā (“A warning to not go beyond a certain point.”)