英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

postal (adj.)[postal 词源字典]: "pertaining to the mail system," 1843, on model of French postale (1836), from post (n.3). Noun meaning "state of irrational and violent anger" (usually in phrase going postal) attested by 1997, in reference to a cluster of news-making workplace shootings in U.S. by what were commonly described as "disgruntled postal workers" (the cliche itself, though not the phrase, goes back at least to 1994).[postal etymology, postal origin, 英语词源]
postcard (n.): 1870, from post (n.3) + card (n).
postdate (v.): also post-date, 1620s, from post- + date (v.1) "to assign a date to, to mark a date on." Related: Postdated; postdating. Intransitive meaning "be of an earlier date" is from 1909.
postdiluvial (adj.): also post-diluvial, 1823, from post- + diluvial. Earlier was postdiluvian (1670s).
posted (adj.): "supplied with news," 1828, American English, past participle adjective from post (v.2).
poster (n.): "bill, placard, thing posted," 1838, from post (v.1). Poster boy/girl/child "someone given prominence in certain causes" is attested by 1990, in reference to fund-raising drives for charities associated with disability, featuring child sufferers, a feature since 1930s.
posterior (adj.): 1530s, "later," from Latin posterior "after, later, behind," comparative of posterus "coming after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-). Meaning "situated behind" is from 1630s.
posterior (n.): "buttocks," euphemistic, 1610s, from posterior (adj.). Earlier it meant "those who come after, posterity" (1530s). Compare Lithuanian pasturas "the last, the hindmost," from pas "at, by."
posteriority (n.): late 14c., "state of being behind," from Old French posteriorite (Modern French postériorité), from Medieval Latin posterioritatem (nominative posterioritas), from Latin posterior "later" (see posterior (adj.)).
posterity (n.): late 14c., from Old French posterité (14c.), from Latin posteritatem (nominative posteritas) "future, future time; after-generation, offspring;" literally "the condition of coming after," from posterus "coming after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-). Old English words for this included æftercneoreso, framcynn.
postern (n.): late 13c., "back door, private door," from Old French posterne "side or rear gate," earlier posterle, from Late Latin posterula "small back door or gate," diminutive of Latin posterus "that is behind, coming after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-).
posthaste (adv.): 1590s, from a noun (1530s) meaning "great speed," usually said to be from "post haste" instruction formerly written on letters (attested from 1530s), from post (adv.) + haste (n.). The verb post "to ride or travel with great speed" is recorded from 1550s.
posthumous (adj.): mid-15c., "born after the death of the originator" (author or father), from Late Latin posthumus, from Latin postumus "last, last-born," superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent" (see posterior). Altered in Late Latin by association with Latin humare "to bury," suggesting death; the one born after the father's death obviously being the last. An Old English word for this was æfterboren, literally "after-born." Related: Posthumously.
postillon (n.): 1590s, from Middle French postillon (1530s), from Italian postiglione "forerunner, guide," especially for one carrying mail on horseback, from posta "mail" (see post (n.3)) + compound suffix from Latin -ilio.
postlude (n.): 1821, from post- + ending abstracted from prelude.
postman (n.): 1520s, from post (n.3) + man (n.).
postmark (n.): 1670s, from post (n.3) + mark (n.1). As a verb from 1716. Related: Postmarked; postmarking.
postmaster (n.): 1510s, from post (n.3) + master (n.).
postmodernism (n.): also post-modernism, by 1977, from post- + modernism. Defined by Terry Eagleton as "the contemporary movement of thought which rejects ... the possibility of objective knowledge" and is therefore "skeptical of truth, unity, and progress" ["After Theory," 2003]. Related: post-modernist (1965).
postnatal (adj.): 1831, from post- + natal.