penult

American  

[pee-nuhlt, pi-nuhlt] / ˈpi nʌlt, pɪˈnʌlt /

Also penultima

noun

1. the next to the last syllable in a word.

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penult British  

/ pɪˈnʌlt, ˈpɛnʌlt /

noun

1. the last syllable but one in a word

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Etymology

Origin of penult

1530–40; < Latin paenultima ( syllaba ), contraction of paene ultima almost the last; see pen-, ultima

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

penult

Occasionally, an Indian name came to his lips, hesitant syllables cascaded to a tenebrous penult: Rabindranath Tagore.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus, for example, the penult of the word carpēnter was regarded as long by Drant because followed by two consonants.

From A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism by Joel Elias Spingarn

In such words the accent stands upon the penult, even though that be short.

From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett

These three stanzas are the fifth and ninth of Part First, and the penult verse of Part Second.

From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded Upon Local Tradition by Sir Walter Scott

If we follow the analogy of the language, either French or English, it should be pronounced with the accent on the penult, Mount Désert, and not on the last syllable, as we sometimes hear it.

From Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01 by Charles P. (Charles Pomeroy) Otis

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