In everyday English, people usually say the next to last or, in British English, the last but one rather than use penultimate: 在日常英语中,人们一般说 the next to last, 或在英国英语中说 the last but one, 而不说 penultimate
the next to last chapter
倒数第二章
the last but one chapter
倒数第二章【英】
Examples from the Corpus
penultimate• It was the penultimate act before war.• Alan Aldridge's chestnutquickened well approaching the penultimate and was in no danger from then on.• The penultimatecolumn gives the currentmemoryrequirements, which are twice what is necessary.• The kids ruled Monday night, the sixth and penultimate day of racing.• We booked a moped for the penultimate day of the holiday.• His horseslipped and fell at the penultimatefence.• the penultimate game of the season• It took us five hours to reach the penultimatepeak.• Eric scored a timely win in the penultimate round of the Formula 1 championship.• Beatification is the penultimatestep before canonisation.• These trials are actually the penultimate step toward choosing the Olympicteam for this summer's games.• This all happened just before Easter, at the end of my penultimateterm at Sussex.• Particularly impressive is the hornsection on the penultimatetrack, 'Just Jivin' Around'.
Originpenultimate
(1600-1700)Latinpaenultimus, from paene“almost” + ultimus“last”