Posterity

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈpÉ’stɛɹɪti/
• Rhymes: -ɪti

Origin

Late 14th century, from Middle French posterité, from Latin posteritas, from posterus ("following, coming after"), from post ("after") (English post-).

Online Etymology Dictionary

Displaced Old English words such as æftercneoreso, frumcynn.

Full definition of posterity

Noun

1. All the future generations, especially the descendants of a specific person.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 1, The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.

Related terms

• See post-