Penultimate

"Penultimate" is one of those words that has caught my fancy for some reason. Dad delighted in certain words and I might have caught this tendency from him.

Penultimate means next to last. Ultimate is from the Latin word "ultimus" for last and "pen" is a Latin prefix that means "almost."

More here

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"The Twisted Sword" is the penultimate book in Winston Graham's 12 book Poldark series. I don't want the series to end. 

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In case you're wondering, there is a word for third from last. It's antepenultimate. It doesn't roll off the tongue the way penultimate does!