Where does “penultimate” come from?
Penultimate comes from Latin paenultimus, formed from paene and ulter, which descends from Latin uls and Proto-Indo-European h₂el-.
penultimate (English): Next to last, second to last; immediately...
Definitions
- Next to last, second to last; immediately...
Ancestry of “penultimate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ate | having the specified thing; characterized by the... |
| 2 | Latin | -ātus | ed |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality |
Words derived from “penultimate”