propenultimate

propenultimate

English

Etymology

pro- +‎ penultimate

Adjective

propenultimate (not comparable)

1. (rare) Two before the last, an alternative to antepenultimate.
   • 1929, Martin Armstrong, The Sleeping Fury, book 1 Charlotte At Fifty, chapter 1:

     “Halnaker is the family name?”
     “Yes. Spelt H-a-l-n-a-k-e-r and pronounced Hannaker, with the accent on the Hann—the pro-penultimate, as we were taught to call it at school. The propenultimate, if you please. What unmitigated nonsense! Why not the last-but-two?”

   • 1997, Georg Capellanus and Rod McLeod, Latin Can be Fun (Facetiae Latinae): A Modern Conversational Guide (Sermo Hodiernus Antique Redditus):

     In Latin polysyllabic words are stressed on the penultimate syllable if this is long; otherwise on the propenultimate syllable, provided that there is one.

Related terms

• penultimate
• preantepenultimate
• ultimate