- born after the father's death
- published after the author's death
- arising or continuing after one's death
Because of its use in connection with death, however, later Latin writers decided that the last part of the word must have to do with humus, “earth,” orhumāre, “to bury,” and began spelling the word posthumus.This form of the Latin word was borrowed into English, being first recorded in a work composed before 1464.
Perhaps the most telling use of the word appears in the poet Robert Southey's comment on the rewards of an author: “It was well we should be contented with posthumous fame, but impossible to be so with posthumous bread and cheese.”