# posterior
## English
### Alternative forms

* posteriour (obsolete)

### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin posterior (“that comes or follows after; later, latter”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /pɒsˈtɪə.ɹi.ə/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /poʊˈstɪɹ.i.ɚ/, /pɑˈstɪɹ.i.ɚ/
** Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)

### Adjective

posterior (comparative more posterior, superlative most posterior)
* (anatomy) Nearer the rear or hind end; nearer the caudal end of the body in quadrupeds or the dorsal end in bipeds.
    Synonyms: back, hinder, rear
    Antonym: anterior
** (medicine) Relating to or denoting presentation of a fetus in which the rear or caudal end is nearest the cervix and emerges first at birth.
** (botany) Next to, or facing the main stem or axis.
* (formal) Following in order or in time.
    Synonym: later
    Antonym: prior

#### Coordinate terms

* anterior
* distal
* dorsal
* lateral
* medial
* posterior
* proximal
* ventral
* anterior
* apical
* apicocoronal
* axial
* buccal
* buccoapical
* buccocervical
* buccogingival
* buccolabial
* buccolingual
* bucco-occlusal
* buccopalatal
* cervical
* coronal
* coronoapical
* distal
* distoapical
* distobuccal
* distocclusal
* distocervical
* distoclusal
* distocoronal
* distofacial
* distogingival
* distoincisal
* distolingual
* disto-occlusal
* distopalatal
* facial
* gingival
* incisal
* incisocervical
* inferior
* labial
* lingual
* linguobuccal
* linguo-occlusal
* mandibular
* maxillary
* mesial
* mesioapical
* mesiobuccal
* mesiocclusal
* mesiocervical
* mesioclusal
* mesiocoronal
* mesiodistal
* mesiofacial
* mesiogingival
* mesioincisal
* mesiolingual
* mesio-occlusal
* mesiopalatal
* occlusal
* palatal
* posterior
* proximal
* superior
* vestibular

#### Derived terms

* anteroposterior
* apicoposterior
* centroposterior
* distoposterior
* dorsoposterior
* duplicitas posterior
* frontoposterior
* inferoposterior
* lateroposterior
* long posterior ciliary artery
* medioposterior
* mentoposterior
* mesioposterior
* midposterior
* nonposterior
* occipitoposterior
* posterior auricular artery
* posterior auricular muscle
* posterior cerebral artery
* posterior chamber
* posterior cingulate cortex
* posterior communicating artery
* posterior cricoarytenoid muscle
* posterior cruciate ligament
* posterior ethmoidal artery
* posterior inferior cerebellar artery
* posterioristic
* posteriority
* posteriorize
* posteriorly
* posterior mal
* posterior malleolus
* posteriormost
* posterior naris
* posterior probability
* posterior scalene muscle
* posterior spinal artery
* posterior superior alveolar artery
* posterior triangle
* posteriorward
* postero-, posterio-
* proximoposterior
* sacroposterior
* short posterior ciliary artery
* sinistroposterior
* subposterior
* superoposterior
* ventroposterior

#### Related terms

* auricularis posterior
* post-

#### Translations
### Noun

posterior (plural posteriors)
* (sometimes euphemistic, sometimes humorous) The posterior portions of the human body; especially, the buttocks.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:buttocks
** 2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 52:Stephen reigned from 1135-1154, that nasty period of our history dubbed 'The Anarchy', when forces loyal to Stephen contested the throne with those of Henry I's daughter Matilda, who by rights should have been queen. Stephen, her cousin, plonked his own posterior on the throne.
* (mathematics) The probability that a hypothesis is true (calculated by Bayes' theorem).
    Synonym: posterior probability
    Antonyms: prior, prior probability

#### Translations
### References

* “posterior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “posterior”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

### Anagrams

* repositor, torporise

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin posteriōrem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [pus.tə.ɾiˈor]
* IPA: (Balearic) [pos.tə.ɾiˈo]
* IPA: (Valencia) [pos.te.ɾiˈoɾ]

### Adjective

posterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural posteriors)
* subsequent (following in order or in time)
    Antonym: anterior
* posterior (located behind, or towards the rear of an object)
    Antonym: anterior
* (phonetics, phonology) back

#### Derived terms

* posterioritat
* posteriorment
* quasiposterior

### Further reading

* “posterior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “posterior”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “posterior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “posterior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Indonesian
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin posterior.

### Adjective

posterior
* posterior

#### Coordinate terms

* anterior
* distal
* dorsal
* lateral
* medial
* posterior
* proksimal
* ventral
* aksial
* anterior
* apikal
* apikokoronal
* bukal
* bukoapikal
* bukogingival
* bukolabial
* bukolingual
* bukooklusal
* bukopalatal
* bukoservikal
* distal
* distoapikal
* distobukal
* distofasial
* distogingival
* distoinsisal
* distoklusal
* distokoronal
* distolingual
* distooklusal
* distopalatal
* distoservikal
* fasial
* gingival
* inferior
* insisal
* insisoservikal
* koronal
* koronoapikal
* labial
* lingual
* linguobukal
* linguooklusal
* maksilar
* mandibular
* mesial
* mesioapikal
* mesiobukal
* mesiodistal
* mesiofasial
* mesiogingival
* mesioinsisal
* mesioklusal
* mesiokoronal
* mesiolingual
* mesiooklusal
* mesiopalatal
* mesioservikal
* oklusal
* palatal
* posterior
* proksimal
* servikal
* superior
* vestibular

## Latin
### Etymology

Comparative degree of posterus, from post.

### Adjective

posterior (comparative, neuter posterius); third declension
* comparative degree of posterus
** coming after, later; next, following (of time)
    Synonym: secundus
*** the later of the two, (of persons) the younger
** further to the back, hinder, posterior (of space)
** later in position or order of mention, latter
** less important, secondary, inferior
    Synonym: secundus

#### Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

### Noun

posterior m (genitive posteriōris); third declension
* (chiefly in the plural) later generations

#### Declension

Third-declension noun.

#### Related terms

* posteritās

#### Descendants

* → Catalan: posterior
* → English: posterior
* → French: postérieur
* → Galician: posterior
* → Italian: posteriore
* → Norwegian Bokmål: posterior, posteriori
* → Portuguese: posterior
* → Romanian: posterior
* → Spanish: posterior

### References

* “posterior” on page 1554 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

### Further reading

* “posterior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* posterior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. later writers: scriptores aetate posteriores or inferiores

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Latin posterior.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /pos.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [pos.te.ɾɪˈoh], (faster pronunciation) /pos.teˈɾjoʁ/ [pos.teˈɾjoh]
* (Brazil) IPA: /pos.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [pos.te.ɾɪˈoh], (faster pronunciation) /pos.teˈɾjoʁ/ [pos.teˈɾjoh]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /pos.te.ɾiˈoɾ/ [pos.te.ɾɪˈoɾ], (faster pronunciation) /pos.teˈɾjoɾ/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /poʃ.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [poʃ.te.ɾɪˈoχ], (faster pronunciation) /poʃ.teˈɾjoʁ/ [poʃ.teˈɾjoχ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /pos.te.ɾiˈoɻ/ [pos.te.ɾɪˈoɻ], (faster pronunciation) /pos.teˈɾjoɻ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /puʃ.tɨˈɾjoɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /puʃ.tɨˈɾjoɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /puʃ.tɨˈɾjo.ɾi/
* Hyphenation: pos‧te‧ri‧or

### Adjective

posterior m or f (plural posteriores)
* posterior (following in order or in time)
    Synonym: ulterior
* posterior (located in the rear)
    Synonym: traseiro
* (phonetics) back (produced in the back of the mouth)
    Synonym: traseiro

#### Derived terms

* posteriormente

### Further reading

* “posterior”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French postérieur, from Latin posterior.

### Adjective

posterior m or n (feminine singular posterioră, masculine plural posteriori, feminine and neuter plural posteriore)
* posterior

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

From Latin posterior.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /posteˈɾjoɾ/ [pos.t̪eˈɾjoɾ]
* Rhymes: -oɾ
* Syllabification: pos‧te‧rior

### Adjective

posterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural posteriores)
* posterior, later
    Antonym: anterior

#### Derived terms

* cámara posterior
* posterioridad
* posteriormente

### Further reading

* “posterior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10