dernier

Definition

Final, last.

Etymology

Borrowed from French dernier, a contraction of derrenier, from Old French derrain (“final, last”) (by analogy with premier), from Vulgar Latin *dēretrānus, from Latin dē (“from, away from”) + retrō (“back; backwards; behind”) + -ānus (“of or pertaining to”).

Example Sentences

• "Then as I'm a Chriſtian, I ſuſpect we have both been equally involv'd in the misfortune of a Miſtake. Sir, I am in the dernier Confuſion to avow, that tho my Daughter Conſtantia has been liable to ſeveral Addreſſes; yet ſhe never has had the Honour to be produc'd to his Grace."
• "That thoſe laws of Ed[ward] 3 for Annual Parliaments are pro bono publico [for the public good], and of the greateſt concern to the Nation, beſides they are made concerning the higheſt Court of Judicature, of the Dernier Reſort, and which regulates and keeps all the reſt in order, needs not a proof to any reaſonable man."
• "The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from them the disclosure of the place which concealed the treasures, were, […] after being fettered and imprisoned, led out on to a scaffold, and this array of terrours proving unavailing, the meek tempered Middleton, as a dernier resort, menaced them with a confinement in the fortress of Chunargar. Thus, my lords, was a British garrison made the climax of cruelties!"