Where does “preposterous” come from?
Preposterous comes from Latin praeposterus, from posterus meaning "coming after," from post meaning "after," tracing back through Proto-Indo-European preh₂-, per-, and pós.
preposterous (English): Absurd, or contrary to common sense
Definitions
- Absurd, or contrary to common sense
Ancestry of “preposterous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | praeposterus | reversed, inverted; perverted, distorted; absurd,... |
| 2 | Latin | posterus | following, next, coming after; inferior |
| 3 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 4 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | posti | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |
Words derived from “preposterous”