Etymograph

English

posterity

Posterity comes from Middle French posterité ‘offspring’, from Latin posterus ‘following, coming after’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pós‘afterwards, post-’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pósti‘after’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*posti‘behind, after’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEposte
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpost‘after’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEposterus‘following, coming after’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEposteritas
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600posterité‘offspring’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1828posterity

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pós‘afterwards, post-’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pósti‘after’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*posti‘behind, after’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEposte
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpost‘after’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEposterus‘following, coming after’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEposteritas
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600posterité‘offspring’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1828posterity

Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “That woman foretold and inflicted a singular disease on…”

Linked words

through Latin posterus ‘following, coming after’

posthumous, 1 more

Today it means

noun All the future generations, especially the descendants of a specific person.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pós / posterity

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