postmortem
Meaning of postmortem: Postmortem describes anything occurring or performed after death, most commonly an examination carried out to determine the cause of death.
Definition of postmortem
Postmortem means occurring after death, and the word is used both as a general description of timing and, more specifically, to refer to an autopsy, the examination performed on a body after death to determine or confirm the cause and circumstances of death. A postmortem examination may include external examination, internal examination of organs, and laboratory testing of tissue or fluid samples.
Postmortem findings can help establish the medical cause of death, identify previously undiagnosed disease, and, in some cases, provide information relevant to a legal investigation. The term is also used more broadly outside of a formal autopsy, such as in describing changes that occur in body tissue after death.
A postmortem examination is distinct from evaluations performed while a person is alive, and its findings are interpreted with attention to changes that can occur in tissue after death itself.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
A postmortem examination was performed to determine the cause of death.
Good to know
Postmortem is often used as shorthand for autopsy, though the word more broadly describes anything occurring after death, including tissue changes that are considered separately from the cause of death itself.
Word origin
Where “postmortem” comes from
Formed from post- (Latin, meaning "after") and mortem, from Latin mors, mortis, meaning "death."