penultimate
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɪˈnʌltɪmət/
ipa: /pəˈnəltəmət/
ipa: /pɪˈnʌltəmət/
Forms: form: pænultimate
Etymology: From Latin paenultimus (“penultimate”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”). Equivalent to pene- + ultimate. Compare French pénultième.
Senses: examples: text: […] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]
ref: 1677, Robert Plot, “Of the Heavens and Air”, in The natural history of Oxford-shire: Being an Essay Toward the Natural History of England, page 15:
text: But it should frequently happen that offspring should resemble its penultimate rather than its latest phase, and should thus be more like a grand-parent than a parent.
ref: 1878, Samuel Butler, chapter 10, in Life and Habit:
text: “Your clothes don't weigh more'n seven pounds. And seven from—hum—say one hundred an' twenty-three—one hundred an' sixteen is your stripped weight.”
But at the penultimate word, Mary cried out with sharp reproof:
“Why, Billy Roberts, people don't talk about such things.”
ref: 1913, Jack London, chapter 3, in The Valley of the Moon:
topics: scholarly
sciences
glosses: Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.
raw_tags: in US usually formal
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: Of or pertaining to a penult.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
examples: text: This Book is the Proud Purple Penultimate!!
ref: 1907 Gelett Burgess Are You a Bromide? (New York: B. W. Heubsch) cover blurb
text: This treatment, where two therapists massage the body using warm oils infused with plant extracts, is truly the penultimate experience.
ref: 2002 January, Claire Holt, "California Driving", Los Angeles →ISSN volume 47 no 1 p. 84
text: Ultimately, I reach the most penultimate existential questions: “What is the meaning of this? Is there any?”
ref: 2022 February 10, Ethan Marshall, “Is written media dead?”, in The Glasgow Guardian:
glosses: pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality
Synonyms: sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: next to last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: next-to-last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: second to last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: second-to-last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: second from last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: second-from-last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: second last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: second-last
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: last but one
sense: immediately preceding the end of a list
word: last penultimate but one
Coordinate terms: sense: adjectives denoting syllables
english: last
translation: last
word: ultimate
sense: adjectives denoting syllables
english: last but two
translation: last but two
word: antepenultimate
sense: adjectives denoting syllables
english: last but three
translation: last but three
word: preantepenultimate
sense: adjectives denoting syllables
english: last but four
translation: last but four
word: propreantepenultimate
Derived terms: antepenultimate
penultimately
penultimatum
preantepenultimate
prepenultimate
propenultimate
propreantepenultimate
Related terms: penult
ultimate
peninitial