penultimate

(pĭ-nŭl'tə-mĭt)
adj.

1. Next to last.
2. Linguistics. Of or relating to the penult of a word: penultimate stress.

n.
The next to the last.

[From Latin paenultimus. See penult.]

penultimately pe·nul'ti·mate·ly adv.

View more Literature & Language videos

While it may have been easier to say "second to last," The New York Times puts its eloquent phrasing skills to use in a review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The sixth and penultimate installment of the international bestseller hit bookshelves this week:

"Perhaps because of its position as the penultimate installment of a seven-book series, 'The Half-Blood Prince' suffers, at moments, from an excess of exposition."

Link: Harry Potter Works His Magic Again in a Far Darker Tale

Posted July 17, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

next to the last

For a list of words related to penultimate, see:

• Reflections and References

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See words rhyming with "penultimate."

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - næstsidst
n. - næstsidste stavelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
voorlaatst, voorlaatste lettergreep

Français (French)
adj. - avant-dernier
n. - (Ling) pénultième

Deutsch (German)
adj. - vorletzt
n. - Vorletzter

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - προτελευταίος, της παραλήγουσας
n. - παραλήγουσα

Italiano (Italian)
penultimo

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - referente à penúltima sílaba
n. - penúltima sílaba (f)

Русский (Russian)
предпоследний, предпоследний слог

Español (Spanish)
adj. - penúltimo
n. - penúltimo

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - näst sista
n. - penultima (näst sista stavelsen)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
倒数第二音节的, 倒数第二的, 倒数第二音节, 倒数第二

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 倒數第二音節的, 倒數第二的
n. - 倒數第二音節, 倒數第二

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 어미로부터 두 번째의
n. - 어미로부터 두 번째의 철자

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 最後から2番目の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) متعلق بالمقطع قبل الأخير (الاسم) قبل الأخير‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮שלפני האחרון, מלעילי‬
n. - ‮אחד לפני הסוף‬

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