penultimate /pɪˈnʌl.tɪ.mɪt/noun 5adjective 4forms 1 noun5 •A penult, a next to last.Our Lutheran concern for the ultimates (the Gospel) has allowed us to neglect some of the penultimates (bodily healing), failing to stress the total implications of that ultimate Gospel. — 1962 •The penultimate syllable of a word or metrical line.Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two. — 1728 •The penultimate (next to lowest) card in a suit.Penultimate, the. — Beginning with the lowest card but one of the suit you lead originally, if it contains more than four cards. — 1876 •(no longer used, rare) The penultimate day of a month.At Woodstock, the penultimate of August. — 1529 •(no longer used, rare) The penultimate element of a collection of curves. adjective4 •Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.[…] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […] — 1677 •Of or pertaining to a penult. •(nonstandard) pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-qualityThis Book is the Proud Purple Penultimate!! — 1907 •(rare) Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form. formspenultimates
