a posteriori

See also: aposteriori

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin ā posteriōrī (“involving reasoning from effect to cause, from experience to theory”, literally “from what follows”). Popularized from the 19th century in reference to the work of Immanuel Kant.

Adjective

a posteriori (comparative more a posteriori, superlative most a posteriori)

2. (logic) Involving induction of theories from facts.

   Synonym: inductive (broadly synonymous outside of philosophic arcanity)

   Antonyms: a priori; deductive

   • 1988, R. S. Woolhouse, The empiricists, Oxford University Press:

     What Locke calls "knowledge" they have called "a priori knowledge"; what he calls "opinion" or "belief" they have called "a posteriori" or "empirical knowledge".

4. (linguistics, of a constructed language) Developed on a basis of languages which already exist. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Synonyms

• (involving induction of theories from facts): empirical

Antonyms

• a priori

Related terms

• a fortiori

Translations

involving deduction of theories from facts

• Belarusian: апастэрыёрны (apasteryjórny)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 後驗／后验 (zh) (hòuyàn)

• Finnish: aposteriorinen (fi)
• German: a posteriori (de), im Nachhinein (de), aposteriorisch (de)
• Greek: επαγωγικός (el) m (epagogikós)
• Italian: a posteriori (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: a posteriori (no)

• Polish: a posteriori (pl)
• Portuguese: a posteriori (pt)
• Russian: апостерио́рный (ru) (aposteriórnyj)
• Tagalog: masiranin
• Ukrainian: апостеріо́рний (uk) (aposteriórnyj)
• Vietnamese: hậu nghiệm (vi)

Adverb

a posteriori (comparative more a posteriori, superlative most a posteriori)

2. (logic) In a manner that deduces theories from facts.

   Synonym: inductively (broadly synonymous outside of philosophic arcanity)

   Antonyms: a priori, deductively

   • 1991, New Scientist:

     FALLACIES of the modern worldview have to do with the conception of the world as substance or machinery, mistaking abstractions for reality, confusing origins and truth, failing to attribute feeling to things that feel, recognising ethics as exclusively anthropocentric, thinking a posteriori, objectifying facts as separated from values, reducing the complex to the simple and dividing knowledge into distinct disciplines that produce experts who are often wrong.

Translations

in a manner that deduces theories from facts

• Arabic: البعديَة (alʔbādiya)
• Belarusian: апастэрыёры (apasteryjóry)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 後驗／后验 (zh) (hòuyàn)

• Finnish: aposteriorisesti (fi)
• French: a posteriori (fr)
• German: a posteriori (de), im Nachhinein (de)
• Greek: εκ των υστέρων (el) (ek ton ystéron)
• Hindi: अनुभवजन्य (anubhavjanya)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: a posteriori (no)

• Polish: a posteriori (pl)
• Portuguese: a posteriori (pt)
• Russian: апостерио́ри (ru) (aposterióri), по по о́пыту (po po ópytu)
• Spanish: a posteriori (es)
• Ukrainian: апостеріо́рі (uk) (aposterióri)

See also

• ex post

Czech

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ā posteriōrī (“from what follows; from what [ must ] follow”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaː pɔstɛrɪʲɔːrɪ/, /ˈʔapɔstɛrɪʲɔːrɪ/, /ʔaː pɔstɛrɪʲɔːriː/

• Audio (Czech Republic):

  (file)

Adjective

a posteriori (indeclinable)

1. a posteriori

Adverb

a posteriori

1. a posteriori

   Synonyms: dodatečně, zpětně, ex post

   Antonym: a priori

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian a posteriori.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a pɔs.te.ʁjɔ.ʁi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

a posteriori (invariable)

1. a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

Adverb

a posteriori

1. a posteriori, in the aftermath

   Antonym: a priori

German

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ā posteriōrī (“from what follows; from what [ must ] follow”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a pɔsteˈʁi̯oːʁi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

a posteriori (indeclinable)

1. a posteriori

   Antonyms: a priori, ex ante

Synonyms

• (involving deduction of theories from facts): empirisch
• (involving a time frame): im Nachhinein

Adverb

a posteriori

1. a posteriori

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Medieval Latin ā posteriōrī (“from what follows”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a po.steˈrjɔ.ri/
• Hyphenation: a‧po‧ste‧riò‧ri

Adjective

a posteriori (invariable)

1. a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

Adverb

a posteriori

1. a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

Derived terms

• aposteriorità

Anagrams

• espiratorio

Latin

Etymology

Literally, “from the following, from those things that follow, from those things that are later”. Introduced as a technical phrase by Scholastic philosophers, notably Albert of Saxony (14th century).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aː pos.te.riˈoː.riː/, [äː pɔs̠t̪ɛriˈoːriː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a pos.te.riˈo.ri/, [äː post̪eriˈɔːri]

Adverb

ā posteriōrī (not comparable)

1. (Medieval Latin) In a manner involving reasoning from effect to cause.
2. (New Latin) In a manner involving induction from experience, a posteriori.

Descendants

• → English: a posteriori
• → Norwegian Bokmål: a posteriori

See also

• ā priōrī

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ā posteriōrī (“from what follows; from what [ must ] follow”), first part from Latin ā (“from, away from, out of”), alternative form of ab (“from, away from, out of, down from”) by apocope (not used before a vowel or h), from Proto-Italic *ab, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off, away”). Last part from Latin posteriōrī, dative singular of posterior (“after, next”), comparative degree of posterus (“next, after”), from post (“behind, after”), from earlier poste, from Proto-Italic *posti, from Proto-Indo-European *pósti, from *pós (“afterwards; by, at”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pɔstəriˈoːrɪ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːrɪ
• Hyphenation: a‧pos‧te‧ri‧o‧ri

Adverb

a posteriori

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori, involving deduction of theories from facts.
   • 2009 August 4, Adresseavisen, page 32:

     at 2+2 er 4 som er a priori viten og at vi har sanseerfaring som er a posteriori viten er ikke et bevis for at Jesus ikke eksisterer

     that 2 + 2 is 4 which is a priori knowledge and that we have sensory experience which is a posteriori knowledge is not a proof that Jesus does not exist

   viten a posteriori

   a posteriori knowledge; knowledge based on experience

Synonyms

• empirisk (“empirical”)

Antonyms

• a priori (“a priori”)

Related terms

• a fortiori (“a fortiori”)

References

• “a posteriori” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “a_posteriori” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “a posteriori” in Store norske leksikon

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ā posteriōrī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a pɔs.tɛˈrjɔ.ri/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Syllabification: a pos‧te‧rio‧ri

Adjective

a posteriori (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (literary, logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonyms: a priori, aprioryczny, apriorystyczny

Adverb

a posteriori (not comparable)

1. (literary, logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonyms: a priori, apriorycznie

Derived terms

adjective

• aposterioryczny

 

noun

• aposterioryzm

 

Related terms

adverb

• aposteriorycznie

 

Further reading

• a posteriori in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• a posteriori in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a posteˈɾjoɾi/ [a pos.t̪eˈɾjo.ɾi]
• Syllabification: a pos‧te‧rio‧ri

Adverb

a posteriori

1. at a later stage
2. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

Further reading

• “a posteriori”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28