penultimate means next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, penultimate ranks #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #7,084 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #7,102 of 14,448 for Funniest Words, #7,127 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
penultimate is pronounced /pɪˈnʌltɪmət/.
Why “penultimate” is a great word
Immediately preceding the last element in a sequence. From Latin paenultimus, from paene ("almost") + ultimus ("last"), first attested in English in the 1670s. Unlike "ultimate" (which claims the final position) or "antepenultimate" (which sits two removes from the finish), penultimate occupies the singular, aching position of the almost-there. It is the second-to-last sip of a remarkable wine, the stillness of the night before a long-awaited departure, or the deep indigo of twilight just before true night—a quiet suspension charged with the full weight of what is to come, yet forever defined by what it is not.
Etymology
From a substantivation of the above adjective. Equivalent to Latin paenultimus + -ate (noun-forming suffix).
adj
- Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.“[…] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]”
- Of or pertaining to a penult.
- Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
- pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality“This Book is the Proud Purple Penultimate!!”
noun
- A penult, a next to last, particularly“Our Lutheran concern for the ultimates (the Gospel) has allowed us to neglect some of the penultimates (bodily healing), failing to stress the total implications of that ultimate Gospel.”
- A penult, a next to last; The penultimate day of a month.“At Woodstock, the penultimate of August.”
- A penult, a next to last; The penultimate syllable of a word or metrical line.“Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two.”
- A penult, a next to last; The penultimate element of a collection of curves.
- A penult, a next to last; The penultimate (next to lowest) card in a suit.“Penultimate, the. — Beginning with the lowest card but one of the suit you lead originally, if it contains more than four cards.”
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