a posteriori

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.

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

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

   Synonyms: empirical, inductive ( 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, conlanging) Of a constructed language, Developed on a basis of languages which already exist.^[1] (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

   Synonym: a priori

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.

• ex post

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

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

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a posteriori (indeclinable)

1. a posteriori

a posteriori

1. a posteriori

   Synonyms: dodatečně, zpětně, ex post

   Antonym: a priori

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

• IPA^(key): /a pɔs.te.ʁjɔ.ʁi/

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a posteriori (invariable)

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

a posteriori

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

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

• IPA^(key): /a pɔsteˈʁi̯oːʁi/

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a priori (indeclinable)

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Synonyms: empirisch, im Nachhinein

   Antonyms: a priori; ex ante

a priori

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

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

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

a posteriori (invariable)

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

a posteriori

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

• espiratorio

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).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaː pɔs.tɛ.riˈoː.riː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaː pos.te.riˈɔː.ri]

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.

   Antonym: ā priōrī

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

• IPA^(key): /a.pɔstəriˈoːrɪ/

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

a posteriori

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

   viten a posteriori ― a posteriori knowledge

   • 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

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

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

• IPA^(key): /a‿pɔs.tɛˈrjɔ.ri/

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• Rhymes: -ɔri
• Syllabification: a‿pos‧te‧rio‧ri

a posteriori (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (literary, logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonyms: a priori, aprioryczny, apriorystyczny

a posteriori (not comparable)

1. (literary, logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonyms: a priori, apriorycznie

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

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

• Hyphenation: a pos‧te‧ri‧o‧ri

a posteriori (invariable)

1. (postpositive, logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

a posteriori

1. (logic, philosophy) a posteriori

   Antonym: a priori

• “a posteriori”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “a posteriori”, in Dicionário infopédia das Locucões Latinas e Expressões Estrangeiras (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “a posteriori”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “a posteriori”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

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

• IPA^(key): /a posteˈɾjoɾi/ [a pos.t̪eˈɾjo.ɾi]

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• Syllabification: a pos‧te‧rio‧ri

a posteriori

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

   Antonym: a priori

• “a posteriori”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025