Posthumously

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Taking place or being recognized after a person's death
2. Happening or awarded after someone has died
3. Existing or happening following the death of an individual

Etymology: "Posthumously" is simply "posthumous" with the adverbial ending "-ly" attached, and the adjective itself is the more interesting part. "Posthumous" comes from Latin "postumus," meaning "last-born" or "last," and the word was later reshaped by folk association with "humus," the Latin for "earth" or "ground," as if the dead were laid into the soil. That association is a mistake in form: the Latin word was a superlative-style formation, and the "humus" link came from later speakers, not from the original sense. The "-ly" ending has a long pedigree in English. It descends from Old English "-līce," which was the ending used to turn adjectives into adverbs, and it has been attached to adjectives in this way since Old English times. Attaching it to "posthumous" produces a word meaning "in a manner occurring after one's death," used for things like awards, publications, or pardons granted once a person has died.

Synonyms: after death, postmortem, post-obit