posterior

English

Alternative forms

• posteriour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin posterior (“that comes or follows after; later, latter”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɒsˈtɪə.ɹi.ə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /poʊˈstɪɹ.i.ɚ/, /pɑˈstɪɹ.i.ɚ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)

Adjective

posterior (comparative more posterior, superlative most posterior)

1. (anatomy) Nearer the rear or hind end; nearer the caudal end of the body in quadrupeds or the dorsal end in bipeds.

   Synonyms: back, hinder, rear

   Antonym: anterior

   1. (medicine) Relating to or denoting presentation of a fetus in which the rear or caudal end is nearest the cervix and emerges first at birth.
   2. (botany) Next to, or facing the main stem or axis.
2. (formal) Following in order or in time.

   Synonym: later

   Antonym: prior

Coordinate terms

• (human anatomy direction adjectives) anterior,‎ distal,‎ dorsal,‎ lateral,‎ medial,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ ventral ^{(Category: en:Medicine)}
• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,‎ apical,‎ apicocoronal,‎ axial,‎ buccal,‎ buccoapical,‎ buccocervical,‎ buccogingival,‎ buccolabial,‎ buccolingual,‎ bucco-occlusal,‎ buccopalatal,‎ cervical,‎ coronal,‎ coronoapical,‎ distal,‎ distoapical,‎ distobuccal,‎ distocervical,‎ distocoronal,‎ distofacial,‎ distogingival,‎ distoincisal,‎ distolingual,‎ disto-occlusal,‎ distoclusal,‎ distocclusal,‎ distopalatal,‎ facial,‎ gingival,‎ incisal,‎ incisocervical,‎ inferior,‎ labial,‎ lingual,‎ linguobuccal,‎ linguo-occlusal,‎ mandibular,‎ maxillary,‎ mesial,‎ mesioapical,‎ mesiobuccal,‎ mesiocervical,‎ mesiocoronal,‎ mesiodistal,‎ mesiofacial,‎ mesioincisal,‎ mesiogingival,‎ mesiolingual,‎ mesio-occlusal,‎ mesioclusal,‎ mesiocclusal,‎ mesiopalatal,‎ occlusal,‎ palatal,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ superior,‎ vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry)}

Derived terms

Related terms

• auricularis posterior
• post-

Translations

Noun

posterior (plural posteriors)

1. (euphemistic, humorous) The hinder parts of the body.

   Synonyms: buttocks; see also Thesaurus:buttocks

   • 2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 52:

     Stephen reigned from 1135-1154, that nasty period of our history dubbed 'The Anarchy', when forces loyal to Stephen contested the throne with those of Henry I's daughter Matilda, who by rights should have been queen. Stephen, her cousin, plonked his own posterior on the throne.

2. (mathematics) The probability that a hypothesis is true (calculated by Bayes' theorem).

Translations

References

• “posterior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “posterior”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• repositor, torporise

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin posteriōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

posterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural posteriors)

1. subsequent (following in order or in time)

   Antonym: anterior

2. posterior (located behind, or towards the rear of an object)

   Antonym: anterior

3. (phonetics, phonology) back

Derived terms

• posterioritat
• posteriorment
• quasiposterior

Further reading

• “posterior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “posterior”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “posterior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “posterior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin posterior.

Adjective

posterior

1. (anatomy, medicine, dentistry) posterior

Coordinate terms

• (human anatomy direction adjectives) anterior,‎ distal,‎ dorsal,‎ lateral,‎ medial,‎ posterior,‎ proksimal,‎ ventral ^{(Category: id:Medicine)}
• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,‎ apikal,‎ apikokoronal,‎ aksial,‎ bukal,‎ bukoapikal,‎ bukoservikal,‎ bukogingival,‎ bukolabial,‎ bukolingual,‎ bukooklusal,‎ bukopalatal,‎ servikal,‎ koronal,‎ koronoapikal,‎ distal,‎ distoapikal,‎ distobukal,‎ distoservikal,‎ distokoronal,‎ distofasial,‎ distogingival,‎ distoinsisal,‎ distolingual,‎ distooklusal,‎ distoklusal,‎ distopalatal,‎ fasial,‎ gingival,‎ insisal,‎ insisoservikal,‎ inferior,‎ labial,‎ lingual,‎ linguobukal,‎ linguooklusal,‎ mandibular,‎ maksilar,‎ mesial,‎ mesioapikal,‎ mesiobukal,‎ mesioservikal,‎ mesiokoronal,‎ mesiodistal,‎ mesiofasial,‎ mesioinsisal,‎ mesiogingival,‎ mesiolingual,‎ mesiooklusal,‎ mesioklusal,‎ mesiopalatal,‎ oklusal,‎ palatal,‎ posterior,‎ proksimal,‎ superior,‎ vestibular ^{(Category: id:Dentistry)}

Latin

Etymology

Comparative degree of posterus, from post.

Adjective

posterior (neuter posterius); third declension

1. comparative degree of posterus
   1. coming after, later; next, following (of time)

      Synonym: secundus

      1. the later of the two, (of persons) the younger
   2. further to the back, hinder, posterior (of space)
   3. later in position or order of mention, latter
   4. less important, secondary, inferior

      Synonym: secundus

Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

Noun

posterior m (genitive posteriōris); third declension

1. (chiefly in the plural) later generations

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Related terms

• posteritās

Descendants

References

• “posterior” on page 1554 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “posterior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• posterior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • later writers: scriptores aetate posteriores or inferiores
    

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin posterior.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pos‧te‧ri‧or

Adjective

posterior m or f (plural posteriores)

1. posterior (following in order or in time)

   Synonym: ulterior

2. posterior (located in the rear)

   Synonym: traseiro

3. (phonetics) back (produced in the back of the mouth)

   Synonym: traseiro

Derived terms

• posteriormente

Further reading

• “posterior” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French postérieur, from Latin posterior.

Adjective

posterior m or n (feminine singular posterioră, masculine plural posteriori, feminine and neuter plural posteriore)

1. posterior

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin posterior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /posteˈɾjoɾ/
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pos‧te‧rior

Adjective

posterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural posteriores)

1. posterior, later

   Antonym: anterior

Derived terms

Further reading

• “posterior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014