antepenult

English

Etymology

Either formed from ante- +‎ penult and modelled on Latin or a shortening of Latin antepaenultima/antepēnultima (syllaba).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌantɪpɪˈnʌlt/

Noun

antepenult (plural antepenults)

1. The third-to-last syllable of a word.

   Synonym: antepenultimate

   • 1985, Robert Burchfield, The English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 110:

     This elementary instruction is language at its most advanced to minds trained on the accentuation of the antepenult (multiplicity) and on Sievers-type C2 half-line metrical patterns[.]

Coordinate terms

• (names of syllables): ultima, ult (last); penultima, penultimate, penult (last but one); antepenultima, antepenultime, antepenultimate, antepenult (last but two); preantepenultima (præantepenultima), preantepenultimate, preantepenult (last but three); propreantepenultimate, propreantepenult (last but four)

Derived terms

• preantepenult