posthumous

See also: post-humous

English

Alternative forms

• post-humous
• postumous (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin posthumus, a variant spelling of postumus, superlative form of posterus (“coming after”), the ⟨h⟩ added by association with humus (“ground, earth”) referring to burial.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒs.t͡ʃə.məs/, /ˈpɒs.t͡ʃʊ.məs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pos‧thum‧ous

Adjective

posthumous (not comparable)

1. After the death of someone.
   • 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, “Chapter IV”, in The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, New York, United States: Charles L. Webster & Co., page 68:

     The most favorable posthumous history the stay-at-home traitor can hope for is—oblivion.

2. Taking place after one's own death.

   Artists obscure during their life often receive posthumous recognition, too late for them to enjoy.

3. In reference to a work, published after the author's death.

   His memoirs were his posthumous revenge on enemies he dared not take on alive.

   • 2012 April 17, Alex Macpherson, “Tupac's hologram reflects another milestone in his mythology”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Eight posthumous albums have been released to date – two more than the man managed in his lifetime – often with conspiracy-baiting titles such as Still I Rise and Tupac Resurrection.

4. In reference to a musical opus, published or initially performed after the composer's death.
5. (originally) Born after the death of one's father.

   Posthumous orphans never even knew their fathers.

Synonyms

• post mortem

Antonyms

• antemortem
• anthumous
• predeath
• prehumous
• premortem

Derived terms

• posthumous execution
• posthumously
• posthumous name
• posthumousness
• posthumous work

 

Translations

born after one's father's death

• Catalan: pòstum (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遺腹／遗腹 (zh) (yífù)

• Dutch: posthuum, postuum (nl)
• Finnish: postuumi (fi)
• Galician: póstumo
• Greek: οψιγενής (el) (opsigenís), κοιλάρφανος (el) (koilárfanos)
• Hungarian: utószülött (hu)
• Ido: postuma (io)
• Portuguese: póstumo (pt)
• Russian: посме́ртный (ru) (posmértnyj)
• Spanish: póstumo (es)
• Welsh: ôl-anedig

taking place after one's death

• Armenian: հետմահու (hy) (hetmahu)
• Belarusian: пасмяротны (pasmjarótny)
• Bulgarian: посмъртен (posmǎrten)
• Catalan: pòstum (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: posmrtný (cs)
• Danish: posthum
• Dutch: posthuum, postuum (nl)
• Esperanto: postmorta
• Finnish: kuolemanjälkeinen (fi), postuumi (fi)
• French: posthume (fr)
• Galician: póstumo
• German: postum (de), posthum (de)
• Greek: μεταθανάτιος (el) (metathanátios)
• Ido: posmorta (io)
• Indonesian: anumerta (id)
• Irish: iarbháis
• Italian: postumo (it)
• Maori: murimate
• Polish: pośmiertny (pl)
• Portuguese: póstumo (pt)
• Russian: посме́ртный (ru) (posmértnyj)
• Spanish: póstumo (es)
• Swedish: postum (sv)
• Ukrainian: посме́ртний (posmértnyj)
• Welsh: ar ôl marwolaeth

in reference to a work, published after the author's death

• Armenian: հետմահու (hy) (hetmahu)
• Belarusian: пасмяротны (pasmjarótny)
• Catalan: pòstum (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 死後發表的／死后发表的, 死後出版的／死后出版的 (sǐhòu fābiǎo de)

• Danish: posthum
• Dutch: posthuum, postuum (nl)
• Finnish: postuumi (fi)
• French: posthume (fr)
• German: postum (de), posthum (de)
• Greek: μεταθανάτιος (el) (metathanátios)
• Hungarian: posztumusz (hu)
• Italian: postumo (it)
• Kyrgyz: өлгөндөн кийин (ölgöndön kiyin)
• Polish: pośmiertny (pl)
• Portuguese: póstumo (pt)
• Russian: посме́ртный (ru) (posmértnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: phost-humhain
• Spanish: póstumo (es)
• Swedish: postum (sv)
• Ukrainian: посме́ртний (posmértnyj)
• Welsh: ôl-argraffedig

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} మరణానంతరం (maraṇānantaraṁ)

Further reading

• posthumous on Wikipedia.Wikipedia