Italian agreement involves space in penultimate round (4)
I believe the answer is:
semi
'penultimate round' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'italian agreement involves space' is the wordplay.
'italian agreement' becomes 'si' ('yes' in Italian).
'involves' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'space' becomes 'em' (in typography, a space as wide as a letter 'm').
'si' placed around 'em' is 'SEMI'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for semi that I've seen before include "half would do!" , "Common type of house" , "The next to final round" , "Type of house (UK) - type of truck (US)" , "Dwelling" .)