Post- | Meaning Of Prefix Post- By Etymonline

AdvertisementRemove Ads

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of post-

post-

word-forming element meaning "after," from Latin post "behind, after, afterward," from *pos-ti (source also of Arcadian pos, Doric poti "toward, to, near, close by;" Old Church Slavonic po "behind, after," pozdu "late;" Lithuanian pas "at, by"), from PIE *apo- (source also of Greek apo "from," Latin ab "away from" see apo-).

Entries linking to post-

a posteriori

17c., in reference to reasoning from a consequent to its antecedent, from an effect to its cause; Latin, literally "from what comes after;" from a "off, away from," usual form of ab before consonants (see ab-) + posteriori, neuter ablative of posterius, comparative of posterus "after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-). Opposed to a priori. In modern use (from c. 1830, based on Kant) roughly equivalent to "from experience."

ex post facto

from Medieval Latin ex postfacto, "from what is done afterwards." From facto, ablative of factum "deed, act" (see fact). Also see ex-, post-.

• pogrom
• post factum
• post meridiem
• post-bellum
• post-Christian
• post-classical
• postdate
• postdiluvial
• posterior
• posterity
• postern
• post-glacial
• post-graduate
• post-impressionism
• postlude
• post-millennial
• post-modern
• postmodernism
• See All Related Words (34)

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

More to explore

posterior1530s, "later in time," from Latin posterior "after, later, behind," comparative of posterus "coming after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-). Meaning "situated behind, later in position than another or others" is from 1630s. Related: Posterial...."buttocks, the hinder pposterity"a person's offspring, descendants collectively," late 14c., posterite, from Old French posterité (14c.), from Latin posteritatem (nominative posteritas) "future, future time; after-generation, offspring;" literally "the condition of coming after," from posterus "coming after, supost-modernalso post-modern, post modern, by 1919, in frequent use from 1949, from post- + modern. Of architecture from 1940s; specific sense in the arts emerged 1960s (see postmodernism). But it has been only during the later decades of the modern era — during that time interval that mighstake"pointed stick or post; stick of wood sharpened at one end for driving into the ground, used as part of a fence, as a boundary-mark..., as a post to tether an animal to, or as a support for something (a vine, a tent, etc.)," Old English staca "pin, stake,...," Middle Low German stake "a stake, post, pillory, prison"), from PIE root *steg- (1) "pole, stick."...The specific meaning "post to which a condemned person is bound for death by burning" is from c. 1200, also "post to which...mail"post, letters," c. 1200, "a traveling bag, sack for keeping small articles of personal property," a sense now obsolete,...From thence, to "letters and parcels" generally (1680s) and "the system of transmission by public post" (1690s)....England, mail was letters going abroad, while home dispatches were post....pillarPhrase pillar to post "from one thing to another without apparent or definite purpose" is attested from c. 1600, late 15c.... as post to pillar, mid-15c. as pillar and post; but the exact meaning is obscure....Earliest references seem to allude to tennis, but post and pillar is recorded as the name of a game of some sort c. 1450....newelThe carpentry meaning "tall and more or less ornamental post at the top or bottom of a staircase" is from 1833 (newel-post...Jupiteralso Juppiter, c. 1200, "supreme deity of the ancient Romans," from Latin Iupeter, Iupiter, Iuppiter, "Jove, god of the sky and chief of the gods," from PIE *dyeu-peter- "god-father" (originally vocative, "the name naturally occurring most frequently in invocations" [Tucker]), frfleshOld English flæsc "flesh, meat, muscular parts of animal bodies; body (as opposed to soul)," also "living creatures," also "near kindred" (a sense now obsolete except in phrase flesh and blood), from Proto-Germanic *flaiska-/*fleiski- (source also of Old Frisian flesk, Middle Lowcousinearly 13c., "a collateral blood relative more remote than a brother or sister" (mid-12c. as a surname), from Old French cosin "nephew; kinsman; cousin" (12c., Modern French cousin), from Latin consobrinus "cousin," originally "mother's sister's son," from assimilated form of com

Share post-

‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-CopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-">Etymology of post- by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of post-. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-CopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of post-," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed December 24, 2025, https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of post-." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-. Accessed 24 December, 2025.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of post-." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/post- (accessed December 24, 2025).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

TrendingDictionary entries near post-

• possibility
• possible
• possibly
• POSSLQ
• possum
• post-
• post
• post factum
• post hoc
• post meridiem
• post office

AdvertisementClose

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

CloseABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ