penultimate

alternative archaic pænultimate

1. UKliterarynot comparablescholarlyNext to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.

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

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

   2 more examples

   But it should frequently happen that offspring should resemble its penultimate rather than its latest phase, and should thus be more like a grand-parent than a parent.

   1878, Samuel Butler, chapter 10, in Life and Habit

   “Your clothes don't weigh more'n seven pounds. And seven from—hum—say one hundred an' twenty-three—one hundred an' sixteen is your stripped weight.” But at the penultimate word, Mary cried out with sharp reproof: “Why, Billy Roberts, people don't talk about such things.”

   1913, Jack London, chapter 3, in The Valley of the Moon

   Synonyms: next to last, next-to-last, second to last, second-to-last, second from last, second-from-last, second last, second-last

2. not comparablehuman sciencesOf or pertaining to a penult.
3. not comparableraremathematicsRelating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
4. not comparableproscribedpre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality

   This Book is the Proud Purple Penultimate!!

   1907 Gelett Burgess Are You a Bromide? (New York: B. W. Heubsch) cover blurb

   2 more examples

   This treatment, where two therapists massage the body using warm oils infused with plant extracts, is truly the penultimate experience.

   2002 January, Claire Holt, "California Driving", Los Angeles →ISSN volume 47 no 1 p. 84

   Ultimately, I reach the most penultimate existential questions: “What is the meaning of this? Is there any?”

   2022 February 10, Ethan Marshall, “Is written media dead?”, in The Glasgow Guardian

plural penultimates · alternative archaic pænultimate

1. uncommonA penult, a next to last, particularly

   Our Lutheran concern for the ultimates (the Gospel) has allowed us to neglect some of the penultimates (bodily healing), failing to stress the total implications of that ultimate Gospel.

   1962, Minutes of the Adjourned Meeting of 22nd Biennial Convention of the United Lutheran Church in America, XXII.iv

   Synonyms: penult

2. A penult, a next to last
   1. obsoleterareuncommonThe penultimate day of a month.

      At Woodstock, the penultimate of August.

      1529 August 30, Bishop Stephen Gardiner, letter (1933), 33

      Synonyms: penult

   2. uncommonhuman sciencesThe penultimate syllable of a word or metrical line.

      Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two.

      1728, E. Chambers, Cyclopædia

      Synonyms: penult

   3. obsoleterareuncommonmathematicsThe penultimate element of a collection of curves.

      Synonyms: penult

   4. uncommoncard gamesThe penultimate (next to lowest) card in a suit.

      Penultimate, the. — Beginning with the lowest card but one of the suit you lead originally, if it contains more than four cards.

      1876, Arthur Campbell-Walker, The Correct Card, Glossary page xiii

      Synonyms: penult