The term posterior is a qualifying adjective that is used to basically designate two similar but at the same time different characteristics. One of the meanings of this word is in reference to something that happens or that takes place after something else that happens first. Thus, for example, a meeting is after another when it takes place after. On the other hand, the second typical meaning of this word is when we talk about the back of something, an object or an organism (in this sense, it is common as a professional word in the field of medicine). In this way, posterior can also designate, for example, the region of the back because it is the posterior part of the body.
To better understand the meaning of the word posterior, we must say that it comes from Latin. So, posterioris In Latin it means “that which comes after, that which comes after.” This helps us to understand both meanings mentioned above. The term is the opposite of the previous word, which also comes from Latin and means “what is before, what is ahead.”
When we talk about something later, we are always referring to something that happens later or that is behind it, not immediately visible. According to the first meaning, the one that has to do with what happens after something else, we are talking about a temporal issue since it gives us the idea that both elements are not simultaneous but are ordered based on the proximity that each one of them maintains towards the moment in which we find ourselves now.
In the second case, when we refer to what is behind as something behind, we are designating everything that appears as a second part of something, not necessarily hidden in all cases. Examples of the latter is when the rear quarter of an animal is designated to the back or that is behind the front of its back. This does not mean that it is not visible, but rather that it is behind the front where the first two legs are located (for example, in a dog).
Following