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The Latin verb ponere, meaning "to put" or "to place," had a role in putting quite a few English terms into place, including component, dispose, expose, impose, oppose, posit, position, positive, postpone, and, yes, posture. The past participle of ponere—positus—gave Latin the noun positura, which has the same meaning as the English noun posture. Positura passed through Italian and Middle French and was finally adopted by English speakers as posture in the late 16th century. The verb posture later developed from the noun, finding its place in English at around the midpoint of the 17th century.
Examples of posture in a Sentence
Nectar Gan, CNN, 10 Apr. 2024
As long as posture surveillance is believed prevent low back pain, many posture and back health wellness programs are liable to create even greater health inequalities rather than mitigate them.
—Beth Linker, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
This being America, posture panic was swiftly commercialized, with a range of products marketed to appeal to the eighty per cent of the population whose carriage had been deemed inadequate by posture surveys.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
The posture of the two cases, FDA v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine, may not lend itself to a conclusive ruling on either the scope of the Comstock Act or the residual state power over the pill’s distribution and use.
—The Editors, National Review, 27 Mar. 2024
Ergonomic mice and keyboards are essential to maintaining a correct posture (and maybe even some of your sanity) while working at your computer for hours on end.
—PCMAG, 22 Mar. 2024
The best postpartum belly wraps provide 360-degree support to help the abdominal wall recover, stabilize your core, back, and ligaments, and assist with correct posture, which is a big bonus when breastfeeding or bottle feeding a baby.
—Maya Polton, Parents, 14 Mar. 2024
Adaptation: Take a learning posture and consider this an opportunity to reflect, pivot and improve.
—Rob Forrester, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Washington hailed Japan’s endorsement of the new U.S. Marine Corps unit’s positioning in the Southwest Islands last year as a significant advance in allied force posture.
—Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Megan Vick, Variety, 1 Apr. 2024
Analysts say China, seeking to posture itself as a global force, is becoming a dominant player in forums like the SCO, where interest for full membership from countries like Myanmar, Turkey and Afghanistan has grown in recent years.
—Time, 3 July 2023
On the contrary, the community of experts who drive how America postures its nuclear forces and determine what must be done to implement the president’s vision is relatively small.
—Ankit Panda, The New Republic, 24 Oct. 2023
Despite his close ties to Putin and the Russian government, Tikhon has tried to posture himself as sympathetic to the Ukrainian people since the invasion began.
—Timothy H.j. Nerozzi Fox News, Fox News, 12 Oct. 2023
Of course, some of their claims around climate risk are posturing to increase rates.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023
On Thursday, the U.A.W. postured back by filing a complaint against Mr. Scott with the National Labor Relations Board (such complaints are often dismissed).
—Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2023
Some of that may be posturing (after all, the company’s stock has jumped 40% since Ford’s announcement), but Tesla’s existential purpose enforces a clarity and commitment that the other automakers lack.
—Behnam Tabrizi, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2023
Now, their tiny descendants do pushups on rocks in our gardens, posturing to attract five-inch-long mates with antics emulating those of their grand predecessors.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 31 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'posture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle French, from Italian postura, from Latin positura, from positus, past participle of ponere to place — more at position
Noun
circa 1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1645, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
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Cite this Entry
“Posture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/posture. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
posture
1 of 2 noun
Medical Definition
posture
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on posture
Nglish: Translation of posture for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of posture for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about posture
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