People confuse penultimate and ultimate believing the prefix “pen-” simply adds more emphasis to the word “ultimate.” This is not the case, the “pen-‘ prefix means “almost” and thus “penultimate” means “ next to last .” “Ultimate” is a much more flexible word that can be “last,” “fundamental,” “utmost,” and more.
How do you use the word penultimate?
- Y is the penultimate letter of the alphabet.
- It’s the penultimate episode of the series tonight.
- November is the penultimate month of the year.
- It was the penultimate act before war.
- Beatification is the penultimate step before canonisation.
- His horse slipped and fell at the penultimate fence.
What is the penultimate number?
If something’s the penultimate, then it’s the second to last thing in a series . ... If you’re reading a book with 20 chapters, chapter 19 is the penultimate chapter. If you’re a fan of grammar terms, you might already know that penultimate can refer to a word’s next to last syllable, called a penult.
What comes after the penultimate?
antepenultimate Add to list Share. ... Ultimate is the last or best, penultimate is the second to last, and finally antepenultimate is the third from last.
Can penultimate mean second best?
Many people use ‘penultimate’ to mean “the very last” or “the very best.” They’re wrong. ... But penultimate means “next to last” or “second to last .” It’s probably because it adds an emphatic extra syllable to the word ultimate that people think it somehow means “more” than ultimate—but it really means less.
What is another word for penultimate?
| last but one next to last | one before the last second to last | second from last second last |
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What is another word for second best?
| inferior next best | next to best nothing special | second-rate |
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Do Americans use penultimate?
While the Latinate penultimate is predominant in written works, the traditional English expressions for this idea were last but one and (less often) second last. Following the 1920s, American use has favored next to last to the point that last but one functions as a Britishism.
Is Penultimately a real word?
Being two syllables means that the general rule of gismu to be stressed penultimately will always cause the first syllable to be stressed. They occur finally or penultimately in clauses. The real participant answered last or penultimately.
What does quadrennial mean in English?
1 : consisting of or lasting for four years . 2 : occurring or being done every four years.
What is the word for before penultimate?
This train of prefixes surely needs uncoupling. Something that is ultimate is the last in a series (from Latin ultimare, come to an end); the penultimate is next to last (pen-, a prefix from Latin paene, almost); the antepenultimate is the one before that (ante-, previous, from Latin “ante”).
What does second to last mean?
: done or placed just before the one that comes last the second to last paragraph the second to last thing she said .
What is the longest word in English language?
The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis , a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.
What is the second to last group called?
Group Names:
The elements in the second to last column (group) of the Periodic Table are called Halogens . The elements in the last group (column) of the Periodic Table are called Noble Gases.
What do you call someone in last place?
An ironic, typically imaginary, prize for finishing last in a competition. wooden spoon . cellar dweller . chump status . final place .
What does penultimate day mean?
The penultimate thing in a series is the one before the last . ... on the penultimate day of the games.
