# penultimate

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pɪˈnʌltɪmət/ · frequency rank #25,875

## Definitions
1. Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.
2. Of or pertaining to a penult.
3. Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
4. pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality

## Etymology
Etymology tree
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
From Latin paenultimus (“penultimate”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”). Equivalent to pene- + ultimate. Compare French pénultième.

## Common misspellings (16)
`epnultimate`, `penlutimate`, `pennultimate`, `penulitmate`, `penulltimate`, `penultiamte`, `penultimaet`, `penultimatte`, `penultimmate`, `penultimtae`, `penultmiate`, `penulttimate`, `penutlimate`, `peunltimate`, `pneultimate`, `ppenultimate`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/penultimate