especially: the second to last syllable of a word : penultima
Sam must have known Sophia Peabody Hawthorne. (Peabody. Was the accent on the first syllable or should you come down hard on the penult, too? … ) Jane Langton
Word History
Etymology
Latin paenultima penult, from feminine of paenultimus almost last, from paene almost + ultimus last — more at ultimate