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==Etymology==
From Latin paenultimus, from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”).

/pɪˈnʌltɪmət/ Adjective penultimate (not comparable)

(UK, in US usage usually formal, literary or scholarly) Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc. (linguistics) Of or pertaining to a penult. (mathematics, rare) Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
Usage notes[edit]

==Synonyms==
(immediately preceding the end of a list, sequence, etc.): next to last, next-to-last, second to last, second-to-last, second from last, second-from-last, second last, second-last, (now chiefly UK) last but one, last ~ but one

==Coordinate terms==
(adjectives denoting syllables): ultimate (last), antepenultimate (last but two), preantepenultimate (last but three), propreantepenultimate (last but four)

==Derived terms==
*antepenultimate
*penultimately
*preantepenultimate
*propenultimate
*propreantepenultimate
==Related terms==
*penult
*ultimate
==Translations==
*next-to-last in a sequence
==Noun==
*penultimate (plural penultimates)