# posthumous

Pronunciation: say "POS-chuh-muhs" /ˈpɒs.t͡ʃə.məs/

## Adjective

1. Occurring after someone has died, especially after the death of the person concerned.
   - Simple: Happening after a person has died.
   - _The soldier received a posthumous medal for bravery._
   - _Her posthumous fame far exceeded anything she enjoyed while alive._
2. Of a book, piece of music, or other work, published, released, or first performed after the death of the person who made it.
   - Simple: Used of a book, song, or other work that comes out after the person who made it has died.
   - _Her posthumous novel, found in a drawer after her funeral, became a bestseller._
   - _The poet's posthumous collection gathers verses she never meant anyone to read._
3. Born after the death of a parent, usually the father, or delivered just after the mother has died.
   - Simple: Born after your father, or sometimes your mother, has died.
   - _The posthumous child was named after the father who died in the mine collapse._
   - _As a posthumous son, he grew up knowing his father only through letters and photographs._

## Origin

The word comes from Latin posthumus, another spelling of postumus, which is the superlative of posterus, "coming after." People added the h because they linked the word with humus, "ground, earth," and so with burial.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/posthumous (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).