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posthumous
playDefinition of posthumous
1 : born after the death of the father
2 : published after the death of the author
3 : following or occurring after death posthumous fame
posthumously
adverbposthumousness
nounExplore M-W
Examples of posthumous in a Sentence
She received a posthumous award for her life of philanthropy.
the soldier was awarded a posthumous medal for valor
Recent Examples of posthumous from the Web
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She was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1982 and is remembered for both her candid writing and haunting death.
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Others in the class of 2018: Television: Anthony Anderson, Gillian Anderson, Lynda Carter, Simon Cowell, RuPaul Charles, Taraji P. Henson, Eric McCormack, Ryan Murphy, Niecy Nash, Mandy Patinkin, Shonda Rhimes, and posthumous Steve Irwin.
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But it is designed to at least offer some posthumous indication of wrong and right.
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Her nearly impossible task was to introduce the only posthumous award that night, one given to Kalief Browder.
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Frankly, through documentaries, several other movies made in recent years, and so many posthumous releases of his music, the story of Tupac Shakur has already been told.
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This week’s ceremony is believed to be the first posthumous gay wedding to take place in France and possibly the world, the BBC said.
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The former No. 1 album returns to the list (5,000 units; up 218 percent), concurrent with the debut of his new posthumous collaborations album, The King & I, with Faith Evans.
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France is one of the few countries where posthumous marriages are allowed by law, the BBC reported.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'posthumous'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Where Does posthumous Come From?
Readers who are looking for the origins of the word posthumous may be interested to know that it is an example of a folk etymology. A folk etymology involves the respelling or changing of an unfamiliar word (often one borrowed from another language) to make it resemble an unrelated but better-known word or words. The classic example in English is cockroach, which was formed by substituting the English words cock (the name of a bird) and roach (the name of a fish) for the similar-sounding but totally unrelated Spanish word for a bug, cucaracha.
Posthumous comes from the Latin posthumus, which is itself an alteration of postumus ("born after the father's death"). It is thought that the word humus (meaning "dirt, earth" in Latin) was substituted for -umus in the mistaken belief that the word's final element had something to do with the soil in a grave.
Origin and Etymology of posthumous
Latin posthumus, alteration of postumus late-born, posthumous, from superlative of posterus coming after — more at posterior
POSTHUMOUS Defined for English Language Learners
posthumous
playDefinition of posthumous for English Language Learners
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: happening, done, or published after someone's death
Medical Dictionary
posthumous
playMedical Definition of posthumous
1: born after the death of the father
2: following or occurring after death
posthumously
adverbLearn More about posthumous
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for posthumous Spanish Central: Translation of posthumous Nglish: Translation of posthumous for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of posthumous for Arabic speakers
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