posterity

  • 1Posterity — Pos*ter i*ty, n. [L. posteritas: cf. F. post[ e]rit[ e]. See {Posterior}.] 1. The race that proceeds from a progenitor; offspring to the furthest generation; the aggregate number of persons who are descended from an ancestor of a generation;… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2posterity — pos·ter·i·ty /pä ster ə tē/ n 1: all of the lineal descendants of a person 2: all future generations Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3posterity — late 14c., from O.Fr. posterité, from L. posteritatem (nom. posteritas) the condition of coming after, from posterus coming after, subsequent, from post after (see POST (Cf. post )). O.E. words for this included æftercneoreso, framcynn …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4posterity — *offspring, young, progeny, issue, descendant Antonyms: ancestry Contrasted words: lineage, pedigree (see ANCESTRY) …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5posterity — [n] future generations breed, brood, children, descendants, family, heirs, issue, lineage, next generation, offspring, progeniture, progeny, scions, seed, stock, succeeding generations, successors, unborn; concept 296 Ant. past …

    New thesaurus

  • 6posterity — ► NOUN ▪ all future generations of people. ORIGIN Old French posterite, from Latin posterus following …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7posterity — [päs ter′ə tē] n. [ME posterite < MFr postérité < L posteritas < posterus: see POSTERIOR] 1. all of a person s descendants: opposed to ANCESTRY 2. all succeeding generations …

    English World dictionary

  • 8Posterity — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Posterity >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 posterity posterity progeny breed issue offspring brood litter seed farrow spawn spat Sgm: N 1 family family grandchil …

    English dictionary for students

  • 9posterity — [[t]pɒste̱rɪti[/t]] N UNCOUNT: oft for N You can refer to everyone who will be alive in the future as posterity. [FORMAL] A photographer recorded the scene on video for posterity... Was he making these notes for the benefit of posterity? …

    English dictionary

  • 10posterity — /po ster i tee/, n. 1. succeeding or future generations collectively: Judgment of this age must be left to posterity. 2. all descendants of one person: His fortune was gradually dissipated by his posterity. [1350 1400; ME posterite < L posteritas …

    Universalium