penultimatumn.
/pᵻˌnʌltᵻˈmeɪtəm/, /pɛˌnʌltᵻˈmeɪtəm/, U.S. /pəˌnəltəˈmeɪdəm/ A demand which is almost an ultimatum; a demand sent immediately before an ultimatum.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > diplomacy > [noun] > statement of position or demands
memorial1536
memoir1571
memorandum1650
ultimatum1731
conclusum1798
aide-mémoire1855
penultimatum1882
1882 Daily Tel. 29 May 5 The Consuls-General hand in an ultimatum, or penultimatum, to a recalcitrant Ministry.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 6 Nov. 3/2 Nearly three weeks after the rejection of the ‘penultimatum’.
1913 Times 6 Nov. 8/3 The United States Communication to General Huerta appears to have been a ‘penultimatum,’ instead of an ultimatum.
2003 Express (Nexis) 28 Feb. 31 They ignored our penultimatum and refused to eliminate their stockpiles of supernumerary genitives.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1882