posterity
pos-TER-ih-tee
/pɒˈster.ə.ti/
All future generations of people.
Used when discussing the long-term impact of actions or the preservation of things for the future.
The story behind the word. From the Latin 'posteritas', which comes from 'post' (after). It is the temporal equivalent of 'ancestry'.
Word relationships
- descendants: Descendants are specific people related to you; posterity is the abstract concept of all people in the future.
- ancestry: Ancestry is the past; posterity is the future.
Commonly confused with
- posterior: Posterior refers to the back or rear of something; posterity refers to future time.
Collocations
- preserve for posterity
- benefit of posterity
- judged by posterity
Example sentences
- "We must protect our natural resources for the sake of posterity." Political speech
- "The museum was founded to preserve these artifacts for posterity." Art and history
Memory hook
Posterity is for the people who come 'post' (after) us. The 'post' (after) people.
When not to use
Too grand for just talking about your own children; use 'future generations' or 'children' instead.
Fun facts
- The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution mentions 'securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity'.
Related words
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