Etymology

antepenultimate

ant·e·pen·ul·tim·ate
A1N1T1E1P3E1N1U1L1T1I1M3A1T1E1

Today it means: Two before the last, i.e., the one immediately before the penultimate, in a series. Full definition →

English penultimate ← Latin paenultimus ← Proto-Italic *oltm̥mos
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
  4. Proto-Italic*anti
  5. Latinante
  6. Classical Latinante-
  7. Englishante-
  8. Latinpaene
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  10. Proto-Italic*oltm̥mos
  11. Latinultimus
  12. Latinpaenultimus
  13. Englishpenultimate
  14. English todayantepenultimate

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

Words from the same roots

Latinantepaenultima all →

antepenultantepenultimaantepenultime

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.