"P" Word Origins

pose

Latin

From Old French poser, "to place or put," ultimately from Latin pausare ("to pause, rest").

Poseidon

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Poseidon, the sea god equivalent to the Roman Neptune.

poser

Origin

From "pose" plus the agent suffix "-er."

poseur

Origin

Borrowed from French poseur.

posey

Origin

From "pose" plus the adjective suffix "-y."

posh

Origin

Origin uncertain, likely from Romani posh ("half"), possibly via slang for money like "half a crown." The popular idea that it stands for "port out, starboard home" is a myth with no real evidence.

posigrade

Origin

From posi- + -grade (“direction”).

posit

Origin

Borrowed from Latin positus, perfect participle of pōnō (“put, place”). Noun sense 3 (type of number format) was coined by American computer scientist and businessman John Gustafson in 2017.

position

Latin

From Latin positio, "a placing," from ponere ("to place"), the same root behind "pose" and "post."

positional

Origin

From position + -al.

positive

Latin

From Latin positivus, related to ponere ("to place"), originally meaning "formally laid down" before it took on its modern sense of "affirmative."

positively

Middle English

From Middle English positively, equivalent to positive + -ly.

positivist

Origin

Perhaps borrowed from French positiviste. Equivalent to positive + -ist, after positivism.

positivity

Origin

From "positive" plus the noun suffix "-ity."

Posner

German

Borrowed from German Posner.

posology

Origin

From Ancient Greek πόσος (pósos, “how much?”) + -ology (suffix indicating a branch of learning).

posse

Latin

Shortened from Latin posse comitatus, "the force of the county."

possess

Latin

From Latin possidere, combining potis ("able, master") and sedere ("to sit"), suggesting the idea of being firmly settled in ownership.

possession

Latin

From Latin possessio, related to possidere ("to possess").

possessive

Latin

From Latin possessivus, "relating to possession."

posset

Origin

From Middle English posset, possot, possate, poshet, posthot, of unclear origin. Perhaps from Welsh posel. A connection to Latin pōsca (medieval/dialectal poscada) has also been suggested.

possibilities

Latin

Plural of possibility, from Latin possibilis meaning 'able to be done', from posse meaning 'to be able'.

possibility

Latin

From Latin possibilitas, related to possibilis ("possible").

possible

Latin

From Latin possibilis, from posse ("to be able").

possibly

Origin

From "possible" plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

possul

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish פּסול (posl), from Hebrew פָּסוּל (pasúl).

possum

Origin

A shortened form of "opossum," dropping the initial vowel sound.

post

Latin

From Latin postis ("doorpost"), reaching English through Old English post and Old French post.

post graduate

Latin

From the Latin prefix post-, "after", added to graduate — that is, study after a first degree.

post-op

Latin

A shortening of postoperative, from Latin post meaning 'after' plus operative.

post-truth

English

A compound of the prefix post- meaning 'after' and truth; here post- carries the sense 'belonging to a time when the thing has ceased to matter' rather than simply 'after'.

postage

Origin

Formed from post (mail) plus the suffix -age, which turns a word into a noun about cost or process.

postal

French

From post (mail) plus -al, shaped on the same pattern as the French word postal.

postal code

French and Latin

From postal, from French poste and Italian posta, ultimately from Latin ponere meaning 'to place'; plus code, from Latin codex.

postbellum

Origin

From Latin post bellum (literally “after the war”).

postcard

Origin

A straightforward compound of post (mail) and card.

postcode

Origin

From post + code.

poster

Origin

From post (in the sense of a notice fixed up in public) plus the agent suffix -er, meaning 'a thing or person that posts.'

posterior

Latin

From Latin posterior, meaning 'that which comes after or behind,' the comparative form of posterus ('following').

posterity

Latin

From Middle French posterité, from Latin posteritas, based on posterus ('coming after'), itself from post ('after').

postfrontal

Origin

From post- + frontal.

posthaste

Origin

From the former instruction on letters ‘haste, post, haste’, later reinterpreted as a compound of post + haste.

posthectomy

Origin

From posthe- + -ectomy.

posthetomy

Origin

From Ancient Greek πόσθη (pósthē, “prepuce”) + -tomy.

posthumous

Latin

From Latin posthumus, a respelling of postumus ('last,' the superlative of posterus, 'following'). The 'h' was added later because people wrongly linked the word to humus ('ground'), thinking of burial.

posthumously

Origin

Formed from posthumous plus the adverb suffix -ly.

postical

Origin

From Latin postīcus (“posterior, hinder”).

posticous

Origin

Latin posticus.