What does posterity mean?
Posterity means all future generations, especially people descended from a particular individual or inheriting that person's work, reputation, or legacy. It is often used when discussing achievements or records intended to outlast their creators: someone might preserve a document for posterity or make a sacrifice that future generations will remember. The word can also evoke the distant judgment of history, as in “posterity will decide.” Compared with the more personal term “progeny,” posterity emphasizes not only direct descendants but everyone who comes afterward. It is generally a formal noun, and its use often suggests permanence, historical importance, or concern with effects that will endure beyond the present. In this sense, the word is especially useful when discussing art, architecture, monuments, scientific discoveries, and historical records.
nounPosterity is the collective body of people who will live in the future, especially the descendants of a particular person, family, or generation. It can also refer more broadly to future generations regarded as the eventual inheritors of a person's work, reputation, or legacy.
- All people living in future generations, especially the descendants of a particular person or group.
- The distant future considered as the period in which a person's work, influence, or legacy will be remembered.
"She preserved the letters for posterity, hoping that future historians might one day understand the family's history."
"The monument was intended to preserve the ruler's reputation for posterity."
"Historians often question whether an achievement was genuinely created for posterity or merely for contemporary acclaim."
Usually singular or mass-like when referring to all future generations collectively; the plural is uncommon and can distinguish separate lines of descendants or future groups.
"The novel imagines several posterities separated by centuries."
Posterity literally points forward in time: it comes from a Latin word meaning “those who come after.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of posterity
Posterity comes from the Latin posteritas, meaning “future generations” or “posterity,” derived from posterus, “coming after” or “following.” Posterus developed from post, the Latin word for “after,” which also underlies words such as posterior. English borrowed the noun in the 16th century, initially referring to descendants and later extending to the broader concept of future generations.
How posterity is actually used
The word is formal and often conveys an extended historical perspective. It is commonly used in expressions involving enduring influence, memory, or future judgment.
Easily confused with posterity
Posterior means later in time or situated behind something, whereas posterity means future generations collectively.
Progeny chiefly means a person's immediate descendants, while posterity can include all later generations and often emphasizes a distant future.