antepenultimate

English

WOTD – 13 January 2011

English numbers ^(edit)

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Cardinal: three     Ordinal: third     Abbreviated ordinal: 3rd     Latinate ordinal: tertiary     Reverse order ordinal: third last, third to last, third from last, last but two     Latinate reverse order ordinal: antepenultimate     Adverbial: three times, thrice     Multiplier: threefold     Latinate multiplier: triple     Distributive: triply     Germanic collective: trio, threesome     Collective of n parts: triplet     Greek or Latinate collective: triad     Greek collective prefix: tri-     Latinate collective prefix: tri-     Fractional: third     Elemental: triplet     Greek prefix: trito-     Number of musicians: trio, triplet     Number of years: triennium

Alternative forms

• antepaenultimate (rare)
• antepænultimate (archaic)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts

Proto-Indo-European *-i

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti

Proto-Italic *anti

Classical Latin ante

Classical Latin ante-lbor.

English ante-

Latin paene

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Italic *-tm̥mos

Proto-Italic *oltm̥mos

Latin ultimus

Latin paenultimus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātuslbor.

English -ate

English penultimate

English antepenultimate

From ante- +‎ penultimate, modelled on Latin antepaenultima/antepēnultima (syllaba) (“last syllable but two in a word”), from the feminine of antepaenultimus/antepēnultimus (“antepenultimate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌæntɪpɪnˈʌltɪmət/, /ˌæntɪpənˈʌltɪmət/, /ˌæntəpənˈʌltəmət/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌltɪmət
• Hyphenation: ant‧e‧pen‧ul‧tim‧ate

Adjective

antepenultimate (not comparable)

1. Two before the last, i.e., the one immediately before the penultimate, in a series.

   This book has ten chapters — chapter 8 is the antepenultimate one.

   • 1677, Robert Plot, “Of the Heavens and Air”, in The natural history of Oxford-shire: Being an Essay Toward the Natural History of England‎^[2], page 15:

     […] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]

Synonyms

• peripenultimate
• prepenultimate
• propenultimate
• third last
• third to last
• triultimate

Coordinate terms

• (adjectives denoting syllables): ultimate (last), penultimate (last but one), preantepenultimate (last but three), propreantepenultimate (last but four)

Derived terms

• antepenultimately

Translations

two before the last

• Armenian: նախավերջընթերային (naxaverǰəntʻerayin)
• Belarusian: перадперадапошні (pjeradpjeradapóšni)
• Bulgarian: предпредпоследен (predpredposleden)
• Catalan: antepenúltim (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 倒数第三 (dàoshǔ dì sān)

• Danish: antepenultimær, tredjesidst or trediesidst
• Dutch: derdelaatste
• Faroese: triðsíðstur
• Finnish: kolmanneksi viimeinen
• French: antépénultième (fr)
• Galician: antepenúltimo
• German: drittletzter (de), vorvorletzter (de)
• Greek: αντιπροτελευταίος (antiproteleftaíos), προπροτελευταίος (proproteleftaíos)
• Hebrew: מלעיל דמלעיל (he) (mil'él di-mil'él)
• Hungarian: hátulról a harmadik
• Italian: terzultimo m
• Japanese: 次々末 (jijimatsu)
• Latin: antepaenultimus
• Macedonian: претпретпо́следен (pretpretpósleden)
• Polish: trzeci od końca, przedprzedostatni
• Portuguese: antepenúltimo (pt)
• Romanian: antepenultim (ro) m
• Russian: предпредпосле́дний (predpredposlédnij)
• Spanish: antepenúltimo (es)
• Swedish: nästnäst sist, näst näst sist, tredje från slutet
• Ukrainian: передпередоста́нній (peredperedostánnij)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Noun

antepenultimate (plural antepenultimates)

1. The second before the last in a series; the item preceding the penultimate and ultimate.
2. (phonetics) The syllable that comes two before the last in a word.

   Synonym: antepenult

   The words animal, citizen, comedy, and antepenultimate are stressed on the antepenultimate.

Related terms

• penultimate
• preantepenultimate
• propreantepenultimate
• ultimate

Translations

third-to-last syllable, the syllable last but two

• Bulgarian: предпредпоследна сричка f (predpredposledna srička)
• German: drittletzte Silbe f, (learned, elevated) Antepänultima (de) f
• Greek: αντιπροπαραλήγουσα f (antiproparalígousa)