Where does “posthuman” come from?
Posthuman derives from English post- combined with human, which comes from Middle French humain, from Latin homo, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰéǵʰōm meaning earth or ground.
posthuman (English): Succeeding human beings as presently defined;...
Definitions
- Succeeding human beings as presently defined;...
Ancestry of “posthuman”, step by step
posthuman traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Human
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Human | The language supposedly spoken by humans |
| 2 | Middle English | humayne | human |
| 3 | Middle French | humain | human; human being; human |
| 4 | Old French | humain | — |
| 5 | Latin | hūmānus | human (of man, people) |
| 6 | Latin | homō | human, person, man |
| 7 | Old Latin | hemō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | hemō | man |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰmṓ | earthling |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰéǵʰōm | earth |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōm | emphatic suffix or postpositive particle |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -mi | — |
via English post
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | post | A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground;... |
| 2 | Middle French | poste | — |
| 3 | Italian | posta | mail, post; post office; stakes |
| 4 | Italian | posto | place, spot |
| 5 | Latin | positus | placed; ordained |
| 6 | Latin | pōnō | to place; to put; to lay |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | poznō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | pozinō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | sinō | — |