Standard Lemma guide

preantepenultimate

adj · noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: prē'ăn'tĭpĭnŭlʹtĭmət
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpɹiːˌæntɪpɪˈnʌltɪmət/
  • General-American: prē'ăn'tipənəlʹtəmət
  • General-American: prē'ăn'təpənəlʹtəmət
  • General-American: /ˌpɹiˌæn(t)ipəˈnʌltɪmət/
  • General-American: /-(t)ə-/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ʌltɪmət

1

adj

Meaning 1

Three before the end; fourth to last.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: biology, human-sciences, linguistics, natural-sciences, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Synonym of preantepenult (“the last syllable but three of a word or other utterance; the fourth-to-last syllable”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, rare

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: preantepenultima, preantepenult

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh2- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh2i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- Proto-Indo-European *h2ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h2énts Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *h2énti Proto-Italic *anti Latin ante Classical Latin ante-lbor. English ante- Latin paene Proto-Indo-European *h2el- Proto-Italic *-tm̥mos Proto-Italic *oltm̥mos Latin ultimus Latin paenultimus Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh2tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English penultimate English antepenultimate English preantepenultimate From pre- (prefix meaning ‘physically in front of, before’) + antepenultimate (“(adjective) two before the last in a series; (noun) the second before the last in a series; (phonetics) syllable that comes two before the last in a word”).

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: предпредпредпоследен (predpredpredposleden) — three before the end
  • Faroese: fjórsíðstur — three before the end
  • Finnish: neljänneksi viimeinen — three before the end
  • French: préantépénultième — three before the end
  • German: viertletzter — three before the end
  • German: vorvorvorletzter — three before the end
  • Hungarian: hátulról a negyedik — three before the end
  • Italian: quartultimo — three before the end
  • Macedonian: претпретпретпоследен (pretpretpretposleden) — three before the end
  • Norwegian: fjerd sist — three before the end
  • Russian: предпредпредпоследний (predpredpredposlednij) — three before the end
  • Spanish: trasantepenúltimo — three before the end
  • Swedish: fjärde från slutet — three before the end
  • Swedish: nästnästnäst sist — three before the end
  • Swedish: näst näst näst sist — three before the end