propenultimate
adjEtymology From pro- + penultimate.
1
Rare Synonym of antepenultimate: two places before last.
- “Halnaker is the family name?” “Yes. Spelt H-a-l-n-a-k-e-r and pronounced Hannaker, with the accent on the Hann—the pro-penultimate, as we were taught to call it at school. The propenultimate, if you please. What unmitigated nonsense! Why not the last-but-two?”1929, Martin Armstrong, The Sleeping Fury, book 1 Charlotte At Fifty, chapter 1
- In Latin polysyllabic words are stressed on the penultimate syllable if this is long; otherwise on the propenultimate syllable, provided that there is one.1997, Georg Capellanus, Rod McLeod, Latin Can be Fun (Facetiae Latinae): A Modern Conversational Guide (Sermo Hodiernus Antique Redditus):
- Related terms
- penultimate, preantepenultimate, ultimate