Thule

American  

[thoo-lee, too-lee] / ˈθu li, ˈtu li /

noun

1. 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.

2. ultima Thule.

3. Also called Qaanaaq.  a settlement in northwestern Greenland: site of a U.S. air base.

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adjective

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

Thule British  

/ ˈθjuːlɪ /

noun

1. 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

2. an Inuit settlement in NW Greenland: a Danish trading post, founded in 1910, and US air force base

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Example Sentences

Thule, now called Pituffik Space Base, was built during World War II, one of several military installations established during the war.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026

Located 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Pituffik Space Base—known as Thule Air Force Base until 2023—is America’s northernmost base and is key for protecting the U.S. from missile attacks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

The sprawling U.S. airfield at Thule, only about 2,800 miles from Moscow, housed atomic weapons and 10,000 men.

From Salon • Jan. 24, 2025

That’s what happened to a handful of Thule Inuit women and children in Greenland.

From National Geographic • Aug. 7, 2023

Of the nature of claik geis, and of the syndry maner of thair procreatioun, and of the ile of Thule," he says:— "Restis now to speik of the geis generit of the see namit clakis.

From Sea Monsters Unmasked and Sea Fables Explained by Lee, H. W. (Henry William)