post-mortem
UK/ˌpəʊst ˈmɔː.təm/US/ˌpoʊst ˈmɔːr.t̬əm/
adj
happening, done, or made after someone's death
n
a medical examination of a dead body to discover the cause of death
n
a discussion or analysis of an event after it has happened, especially to find out why it failed or what went wrong
Morpheme Breakdown
post
mortem
post
after
mortem
death
Etymology
the term "post-mortem" is a direct borrowing from latin, where the phrase post mortem literally means "after death." the latin mors, mortis (death) derives from the proto-indo-european root mer-, meaning "to die, to disappear," which is also the source for english words like "mortal," "murder," and "immortal." the prefix post-, also from latin, is a common and productive element in english for denoting temporal or spatial succession. the compound entered english in the mid-19th century, initially used strictly in legal and medical contexts to refer to examinations conducted after death. over time, its application broadened metaphorically to include any retrospective analysis of a concluded event, maintaining the core logic of an investigation that occurs after the definitive end of a process.
Analysis
Structure: post (after) + mortem (death)
- post: from latin post, meaning "after, behind". it functions as a prefix indicating subsequence in time or place.
- mortem: from latin mortem, the accusative singular of mors (death). it functions as the core noun element in the compound.
Examples
a post-mortem examination revealed the true cause of the illness.
the project team held a post-mortem to understand the reasons for the launch delay.
the book provides a fascinating post-mortem of the company's rapid collapse.