postmortem

[ pohst-mawr-tuhm ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or occurring in the time following death.
2. of or relating to examination of the body after death.
3. occurring after the end of something; after the event:

   a postmortem criticism of a television show.

adverb

1. after death:

   Pacemakers have to be removed postmortem from bodies that are going to be cremated.

noun

1. Medicine/Medical. a postmortem examination; autopsy.
2. an evaluation or discussion occurring after the end or fact of something:

   to do a postmortem on the decision of a court.

3. Cards. a discussion of the bidding or playing of a previous hand.

postmortem

/ pəʊstˈmɔːtəm /

adjective

1. prenominal occurring after death

noun

1. analysis or study of a recently completed event

   a postmortem on a game of chess

2. See postmortem examination

postmortem

1. Autopsy; figuratively, any analysis that follows an event: “When the convention is over, we'll have a postmortem to find ways of improving it for next year.” From Latin , meaning “after death.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of postmortem¹

First recorded in 1725–35, postmortem is from Latin post mortem “after death”

Word History and Origins

Origin of postmortem¹

C18: from Latin, literally: after death

Example Sentences

The disparity between the 2016 polls and the election outcome was a “jarring event” for pollsters, as the American Assn. for Public Opinion Research put it in a postmortem.

From Los Angeles Times

In every losing campaign's postmortem, the analysts insist that the candidate should have gone where he or she did not.

From Salon

In Nature Neuroscience last week, the researchers reported studying samples of 151 postmortem brains, a subset of more than 700 donated by families of Black people for the project.

From Science Magazine

Limitations of the study include the inherent biases in postmortem brain research, including population selection, clinical assessment, comorbidities, and end-of-life state.

From Science Daily

For the new study, a multi-center team of researchers conducted a comprehensive single-cell analysis of transcriptomic changes in human prefrontal cortex, examining postmortem brain tissue from 140 individuals across two independent cohorts.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• posthumous