posthumous
SayPOS-chuh-muhs/ˈpɒs.t͡ʃə.məs/
- 1Happening after a person has died.
The firefighter was given a posthumous award for saving three children.
The painter's posthumous success would have amazed him.
Note
- 2Used of a book, song, or other work that comes out after the person who made it has died.
Many readers liked the writer's posthumous novel best of all his books.
The poet's posthumous book of letters came out a year after her death.
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- 3Born after your father, or sometimes your mother, has died.
She was a posthumous child, born three months after her father died.
The soldier never met his posthumous son, born a month after he was killed.
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Origin
From a Latin word meaning “coming after”; its spelling was changed by a word for “earth,” linked to burial.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The word ultimately traces to Latin posterus, meaning coming after, through its superlative postumus. en.wiktionary.org
- The spelling changed through association with a Latin word for earth. fr.wiktionary.org
- The association with earth refers to burial. en.wikipedia.org