Propenultimate

Origin

pro- meaning earlier, pen- from the Latin paene meaning almost, and ultimate from the Latin ultimus meaning last

Full definition of propenultimate

Adjective

1. (rare) Two before the last, an alternative to antepenultimate.
• 1929, Martin Armstrong (writer), The Sleeping Fury, book 1 Charlotte At Fifty, chapter 1:“Halnaker is the family name?”
  “Yes. Spelt H-a-l-n-a-k-e-r and pronounced Hannaker, with the accent on the Hann—the pro-penultimate, as we were taught to call it at school. The propenultimate, if you please. What unmitigated nonsense! Why not the last-but-two?”
• 1997, Georg Capellanus and Rod McLeod, Latin Can be Fun (Facetiae Latinae): A Modern Conversational Guide (Sermo Hodiernus Antique Redditus):In Latin polysyllabic words are stressed on the penultimate syllable if this is long; otherwise on the propenultimate syllable, provided that there is one.

Related terms

• penultimate
• preantepenultimate
• ultimate