antepenultimate
/ˌæntɪpɪnˈʌltɪmət/
"antepenultimate" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“antepenultimate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Two before the last, i.e., the one immediately before the penultimate, in a series.
Corpus desk
Index EN-antepenultimate · antepenultimate · English
antepenultimate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | antepenultimate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌæntɪpɪnˈʌltɪmət/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “antepenultimate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
antepenultimate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌæntɪpɪnˈʌltɪmət/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Two before the last, i.e., the one immediately before the penultimate, in a series.".
Zero misspellings are on record for antepenultimate in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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-Europe… The correct English form is antepenultimate, spelled A-N-T-E-P-E-N-U-L-T-I-M-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Two before the last, i.e., the one immediately before the penultimate, in a series.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how antepenultimate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This book has ten chapters — chapter 8 is the antepenultimate one.
[…] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]
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”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.