Dictionary.com
definitions

Thule

1
[ thoo-lee for 1, 2; too-lee for 3 ]
/ ˈθu li for 1, 2; ˈtu li for 3 /
|

noun

the ancient Greek and Latin name for an island or region variously identified as one of the Shetland Islands, Iceland, or Norway: supposed to be the most northerly region of the world.
ultima Thule.
a settlement in NW Greenland: site of U.S. air base.

RELATED CONTENT

Ultima Thule, Bandersnatch, And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.comThanks to the holidays, we're serving up two weeks worth of words that have trended on Dictionary.com! From Santa Claus to outer space, here's what had folks searching for meaning.
READ MORE
Dictionary.com’s Most Searched Words In 2019 So FarWe’re only a quarter of the way through the year, but already we’ve seen some significant trends in searches on Dictionary.com in 2019.
READ MORE

Definition for thule (2 of 3)

Thule

2
[ too-lee ]
/ ˈtu li /

adjective

of or relating to an Eskimo culture flourishing from a.d. 500–1400, and extending throughout the Arctic from Greenland to Alaska.

Origin of Thule

2
named after Thule, Greenland

Definition for thule (3 of 3)

ultima Thule

[ uhl-tuh-muh thoo-lee; Latin oo l-ti-mah too-le ]
/ ˈʌl tə mə ˈθu li; Latin ˈʊl tɪˌmɑ ˈtu lɛ /

noun

(italics) Latin. the highest degree attainable.
the farthest point; the limit of any journey.
the point believed by the ancients to be farthest north.

Origin of ultima Thule

First recorded in 1655–65; literally, farthest Thule
Also called Thule.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thule

British Dictionary definitions for thule (1 of 2)

Thule

/ (ˈθjuːlɪ) /

noun

Also called: ultima Thule a region believed by ancient geographers to be the northernmost land in the inhabited world: sometimes thought to have been Iceland, Norway, or one of the Shetland Islands
an Inuit settlement in NW Greenland: a Danish trading post, founded in 1910, and US air force base

British Dictionary definitions for thule (2 of 2)

ultima Thule

/ (ˈθjuːlɪ) /

noun

another name for Thule
any distant or unknown region
a remote goal or aim

Word Origin for ultima Thule

Latin: the most distant Thule
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for thule

Thule

northernmost part of the world, Old English, from Latin, from Greek Thyle "land six days' sail north of Britain" (Polybius). Identity is speculative; it came to be used in a transferred sense of "extreme limits of travel."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper