post-mortemv.
/ˌpəʊs(t)ˈmɔːtəm/, U.S. /ˌpoʊs(t)ˈmɔrdəm/ transitive. To perform a post-mortem examination on (a body). Also in extended use: to analyse in detail a past event, frequently in a recriminatory fashion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > examine medically [verb (transitive)] > perform autopsy on
autopsy1839
post-mortem1874
necropsy1935
post1942
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > pre- or post-examination > pre- or post-examine [verb (transitive)] > examine subsequently
post-mortem1874
1874 M. Clarke His Nat. Life iii. xv. 291 ‘Strange that he should drop like that.’..‘Yes, unless he had any internal disease... I'll post-mortem him and see.’
1900 Jrnl. Compar. Pathol. & Therapeutics 13 2 Hundreds of horses dead of horse-sickness had been post-mortemed by farriers and shoeing-smiths.
1910 H. G. Wells Hist. Mr. Polly iv. 105 You didn't, I suppose, Mr. Polly, think to 'ave your poor dear father post-mortemed.
1934 R. A. Knox Still Dead v. 67 The corpse..was taken up to the house and post-mortem'd and buried.
1968 E. Bowen Eva Trout (1969) ii. iv. 295 Catrina being keen to scour the neighbourhood to post mortem the cricket match.
1983 Word Ways Nov. 198 One can..post-mortem a game played against another human opponent.
2002 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 13 Dec. 2 Two dolphins had already been post-mortemed.
Derivatives
post-ˈmorteming n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > pre- or post-examination > [noun] > subsequent examination > action of
post-morteming1916
1916 Indianapolis Sunday Star 19 Nov. 45/5 With the post-morteming and the ‘I told-you-so-ing’ out of our systems we can settle down to business.
1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office 123 If you people in the legal department manage to distill Truth from your post-morteming you'll be better than Solomon.
2001 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 9 May 35 Elsewhere in the postmorteming, to be sure, there were public charges by the Bar Association that authorities knew full well the names of the ‘instigators and outsiders’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
post-mortemadv.adj.n.
/ˌpəʊs(t)ˈmɔːtəm/, U.S. /ˌpoʊs(t)ˈmɔrdəm/ A. adv.
After death.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [adverb] > after death
post-mortem1742
posthumously1783
1742 R. North & M. North Life F. North 67 Evidence by Offices post Mortem, Charters, Pedigrees.
1845 G. Budd On Dis. Liver 362 Unexpectedly made known by examination, post mortem.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 222 The fistulas are but rarely found post-mortem.
1918 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 208 374 The enamel here is fissured and stained post-mortem.
1978 I. Kesarcodi-Watson & I. Kesarcodi-Watson tr. V. Lossky Orthodox Theol. iv. 96 Theodore was condemned post mortem in the sixth century by the Fifth Ecumenical Council.
1990 Brain 113 456 No assessment of mitochondrial morphology was made in the nerves taken postmortem.
B. adj.
Taking place, formed, or done after death; often in post-mortem examination. Also in extended use: after the conclusion of a matter (cf. sense C. 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [adjective] > before or after death
posthume1598
posthumous1608
posthumeda1661
after-death1680
post-mortuary1791
post-mortem1816
post-obit1822
post-obituary1822
pre-mortem1892
1816 A. C. Hutchison Some Pract. Observ. Surg. 62 A post mortem examination proved that the profunda was given off by the external iliac.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 806/2 The interval between spasmodic and true post-mortem stiffness.
1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. & Morbid Anat. (ed. 2) 325 Of a dark-red colour, and soft gelatinous consistence, closely resembling the post~mortem clot.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 8 June 5/1 M. Chauchard,..who is to sleep his last sleep..in a tomb which has cost nearly £4,000, has had many predecessors in post-mortem luxury.
1969 P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 389 Usually, when an unexpected or inexplicable difficulty is encountered, a postmortem dump is taken to record all available information about the failed state of a program: then a postmortem analysis is made to discover the cause of the difficulty.
1979 R. Rendell Means of Evil 68 Doreen Betts's denial had..been..a post-mortem white-washing of her mother's character.
2003 Daily Tel. 28 Mar. 12/8 A post mortem examination found that she had overdosed on co-proxamol tablets.
C. n.† 1. A resit examination at Cambridge University. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > resit
post-mortem1827
make-up1934
resit1939
retake1976
1827 J. B. Scott Diary 14 Mar. in E. Mann Englishman at Home & Abroad (1930) ix. 209 To Tower, to copy references from Calendarium Inquisitions, Post Mortems about Bungay.
1844 in J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang (1902) V. 264/1 I've passed the Post-mortem at last.
2. An examination of a body performed after death, esp. in order to determine the cause of death; an autopsy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > [noun] > autopsy > instance of
autopsy1805
post-mortem1834
necroscopy1835
necropsy1842
post-obit1854
post1942
1834 in D. E. Manuel Walking Paris Hospitals (2004) 51 This morning a Gentn. asked the dead house man, if there were to be any ‘post mortems’–‘No says the man, we have not had any deaths since Thursday.’
1838 O. W. Holmes in Poet. Wks. (1975) 61 A slight post-mortem, if you please, Surviving friends would gratify.
1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 195 Two ended fatally; but no post-mortem was obtained.
1903 Edinb. Rev. July 191 Post-mortems show the cause of death.
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo xvi. 202 A post-mortem showed an abnormal structure of the teeth and jaws.
1978 V. Cronin Catherine xvii. 206 It killed more women than men, and post-mortems showed the blood to be congested in the heart and lungs.
1997 Independent 23 Apr. (Suppl.) 2/4 (caption) The Chevalier d'Eon (1728–1810), a minister of Louis XVI of France, wore female clothes as a disguise; the question of his sex was not settled until a post-mortem was performed.
3. In extended use: a searching (and frequently recriminatory) analysis or discussion of a past event. Cf. inquest n. 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > pre- or post-examination > [noun] > subsequent examination
inquest1635
post-mortem1850
1850 H. T. Cheever Whale & his Captors iv. 73 To report a full and accurate, leisurely post-mortem of the subjects we have discussed.
1907 R. Dunn Shameless Diary of Explorer ix. 111 Here in camp, we've been holding a post-mortem of the day.
1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies viii. 82 ‘I knew,’ he said at the family post mortem in the evening. ‘I knew the colt had the legs of the field, if he only had the luck.’
1960 V. Jenkins Lions Down Under 114 The post-mortem at a team-talk in Timaru was a searching one.
1995 Times 25 Sept. 25/1 There will be mammoth post-mortems and analyses in the weeks to come, but I do not believe that victory or defeat for either side proved anything conclusive.
Compounds
General attributive. Connected with post-mortem examinations, as post-mortem book, post-mortem room, post-mortem table.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > [adjective] > autopsy
autopsic1817
autopsical1822
autoptic1825
necroscopical1835
necroscopic1843
post-mortem1873
1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. & Morbid Anat. (ed. 2) xlii. 345 Ascertaining in the post-mortem room the existence of the more marked structural changes.
1880 W. MacCormac Antiseptic Surg. 205 A third..reach the post-mortem table before the disease has contracted adhesions to the surrounding parts.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 861 60 cases..collected from St. George's Hospital post-mortem books.
1926 G. K. Chesterton Incredulity Father Brown iii. 98 To murder an old friend and then walk about smiling,..under the eyes of his old friend's daughter and post-mortem doctor.
1968 Brit. Jrnl. Plastic Surg. 21 405 The homograft used was removed from a male cadaver two days after death by a ‘clean’ technique, limited by post mortem room conditions.
1992 Embalmer 2 Autumn 6/2 The design of post-mortem rooms must allow sufficient space for ease of movement around the post-mortem table.
Derivatives
post-morˈtemity n. the state of death.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > state or condition of
deathOE
homeOE
restOE
sleepOE
powderc1300
corruptiona1340
gravec1380
darkness1535
silence1535
tomb1559
iron sleep1573
another country1597
iron slumber1604
deadness1607
deadlihead1612
deadlihood1659
nothingness1813
unlivingness1914
post-mortemity1922
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiv. [Oxen of the Sun] 376 In the nights of prenativity and postmortemity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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v.1874
adv.adj.n.1742