Meanings
plural antepenults
- The third-to-last syllable of a word.
This elementary instruction is language at its most advanced to minds trained on the accentuation of the antepenult (multiplicity) and on Sievers-type C2 half-line metrical patterns[.]
1985, Robert Burchfield, The English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 110Synonyms: antepenultimate
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe third-to-last syllable of a word.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe 3rd syllable of a word counting back from the end
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinantepaenultima
- Englishantepenult
Either formed from ante- + penult and modelled on Latin or a shortening of Latin antepaenultima/antepēnultima (syllaba).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with antepenult
Cite this entry
antepenult. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antepenult
“antepenult.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antepenult. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antepenult,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antepenult.
Source: antepenult on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.