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

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

When the last syllable has a short vowel, such a penult, if accented, takes the circumflex.

From Greek in a Nutshell by James Strong

The accent is usually on the penult vowel, sometimes on the last, but never on the antipenult.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 05 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Robert Kerr

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