Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

posterity

/pɒˈstɛɹɪti/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.97 in modern English

Syllables: pos-ter-i-ty
IPA: /pɒˈstɛɹɪti/

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

All the future generations, especially the descendants of a specific person.

Uncountable

noun

Future audiences, future times, future recognition.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"That woman foretold and inflicted a singular disease on Sigvard and his posterity till the ninth generation, and several of his descendants are to this day afflicted with it."
"The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement."

Etymology

Late 14th century, from Middle French posterité, from Latin posteritas, from posterus (“following, coming after”), from post (“after”) (English post-).

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /pɒˈstɛɹɪti/

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

posterities (plural)

Phrases

post-

Frequently Paired Words

post-

Synonyms

descendants

Rhymes With

popularity prosperity clarity solidarity similarity disparity parity familiarity rarity sincerity singularity dexterity

Questions

How do you pronounce posterity?: The recorded pronunciation is /pɒˈstɛɹɪti/.
What does posterity mean?: All the future generations, especially the descendants of a specific person.
Where does posterity come from?: Late 14th century, from Middle French posterité, from Latin posteritas, from posterus (“following, coming after”), from post (“after”) (English post-).

How to pronounce posterity

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “posterity”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pɒˈstɛɹɪti/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “posterity”.
Repeat and practice — Say “posterity” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.