posterior

Forms

posterior (comparative, neuter posterius); third declension^[1] An old neuter nominative posterior occurs in Cassius Hemina, and an ablative posteriori in Vitruvius.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin posterus (“later, next”) + -ior as a comparative.^[2][3][1] De Vaan regards ⟨posterus⟩ as the old comparative, which has Sabellic matches, and ⟨posterior⟩ as a secondary formation built on it; a corresponding form is nevertheless found in Oscan pústiris.^[4] Both belong with post (“after, behind”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *posti (“behind, after”) and Proto-Indo-European *pos(ti) (“after”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Plautus on.^[4] In the Miles gloriosus a character says omnis res posteriores pono atque operam do tibi (“I put everything else second and attend to you”), with the sense “less important, secondary”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of time it meant “later, following”, and of two things or persons “the later” or “the younger”: Cassius Hemina speaks of the later Punic war.^[2] The masculine plural posteriores served as a noun for later generations, as in Cicero's Brutus, and the neuter plural for later events;^[2] Posteriora was also the name of the works of Marcus Antistius Labeo published after his death.^[2]

Of place it meant “further back, hinder”, as in Lucilius;^[2] in the army pilus posterior, princeps posterior and hastatus posterior were the titles of three centurions of a legionary cohort.^[2] It also meant “latter” in order of mention or in logical sequence, and “secondary, inferior”.^[2][1] Ecclesiastical Latin used posteriora for the back parts,^[5] and in Medieval Latin posteriores meant descendants or posterity.^[6] English took the adjective in the 1530s for “later in time”, and the sense “situated behind” from the 1630s.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for things put second.^[2][4][8]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius speaks of the hinder part of something.^[2][8]
• c. 146 BC – Cassius Hemina speaks of the later Punic war.^[2][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for “later” in time and posteriores for later generations.^[2][8]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses the neuter plural for later events.^[2][8]
• 1530s – Borrowed into English as posterior “later in time”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Coming after in time, later; next, following.^[2][1]
2. The later of two; of persons, the younger.^[2][1]
3. Further back in position, hinder.^[2][1]
4. In the titles of centurions: pilus posterior, princeps posterior, hastatus posterior.^[2]
5. Later in order of mention, latter; later in logical sequence.^[2][1]
6. Less important, secondary, inferior.^[2][1]

Noun

1. (masculine plural) Later generations, posterity.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin, masculine plural) Descendants.^[6]
3. (neuter plural) Later events.^[2]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin, neuter plural) The back parts.^[5]

Related words

• posterus
• postrēmus
• postumus
• English posterior

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de