dernière

Dernière is the feminine singular form of the French adjective dernier, used to mean last, final, or most recent when it agrees with a feminine noun. It marks the item at the end of a sequence or identifies the most recent occurrence.

Common usages include la dernière fois (the last time), la semaine dernière (last week), la dernière étape (the final stage), la dernière édition (the latest edition), and les dernières nouvelles (the latest news). The expression à la dernière minute means at the last minute. In many contexts, dernière conveys either finality or the most recent status, depending on the noun it modifies.

Grammatical notes: Dernière agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. The masculine form is dernier; the feminine plural is dernières, as in les dernières nouvelles. It can function as a decorative adjective or appear in noun phrases where the feminine form stands on its own to refer to a feminine noun.

Etymology and nuance: The form derives from Old French dernier, the feminine last form of dernier, with the standard feminine suffix -ière. In addition to its literal sense of finality, dernière often emphasizes recency or currency in expressions about editions, versions, or events. In some contexts, especially literary or journalistic, it conveys the sense of “the most recent” rather than strictly the final item.

See also: dernier, récemment, dernièrement.