Penultimate

Etymology

From Latin paenultimus, from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”).

/pɪˈnʌltɪmət/ Adjective penultimate (not comparable)

(UK, in US usage usually formal, literary or scholarly) Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc. (linguistics) Of or pertaining to a penult. (mathematics, rare) Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form. Usage notes[edit]

Synonyms

(immediately preceding the end of a list, sequence, etc.): next to last, next-to-last, second to last, second-to-last, second from last, second-from-last, second last, second-last, (now chiefly UK) last but one, last ~ but one

Coordinate terms

(adjectives denoting syllables): ultimate (last), antepenultimate (last but two), preantepenultimate (last but three), propreantepenultimate (last but four)

Derived terms

• antepenultimate
• penultimately
• preantepenultimate
• propenultimate
• propreantepenultimate

Related terms

• penult
• ultimate

Translations

• next-to-last in a sequence

Noun

• penultimate (plural penultimates)