posterity

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɒˈstɛɹɪti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪti
• Rhymes: -ɛɹəti

Noun

posterity (usually uncountable, plural posterities)

1. All the future generations, especially the descendants of a specific person.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     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.

2. (transferred sense) Future audiences, future times, future recognition.

Related terms

• See post-

Translations

all the future generations

• Azerbaijani: gələcək nəsillər
• Belarusian: пато́мства n (patómstva)
• Bulgarian: пото́мство (bg) n (potómstvo)
• Czech: potomstvo (cs) n
• Danish: eftertid (da) c
• Dutch: nageslacht (nl) n
• Finnish: jälkipolvet pl, jälkimaailma sg; jälkeläiset pl
• French: postérité (fr) f
• German: (of humanity at large) Nachwelt (de) f; (of a particular person) Nachkommen (de) pl
• Hungarian: utókor (hu)
• Irish: síolradh m
• Italian: posteri (it) m pl
• Macedonian: потомство n (potomstvo)
• Manx: sluight m
• Old English: æftergenġan m pl
• Persian: آیندگان (fa) (âyandegân)
• Polish: potomstwo (pl) n, progenitura (pl) f
• Portuguese: posteridade (pt) f
• Romanian: posteritate (ro) f
• Russian: пото́мство (ru) n (potómstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̀то̄мство n

  Roman: pòtōmstvo (sh) n

• Slovak: potomstvo n
• Slovene: potomstvo (sl) n
• Spanish: posteridad (es) f
• Swedish: eftervärlden (sv) (of humanity at large)
• Turkish: nesil (tr), soy (tr), zürriyet (tr)
• Ukrainian: пото́мство n (potómstvo)