postmortem

/ˈpoʊstˌmɔrtəm/

Other forms: postmortems

A postmortem is a medical examination of a dead body. It's a kind of autopsy done to learn exactly how the person died.

In Latin, mortem is a form of the word for "death," and post means "after." A postmortem, logically enough, is something that happens after death, usually an examination. Another type of postmortem is a meeting or discussion that follows the completion of a project — this kind does not involve an actual death, but simply the end of something, like an art installation or a business venture.

Definitions of postmortem

1. adjective

   occurring or done after death
   “postmortem changes”

   “a postmortem examination to determine cause of death”

   synonyms: postmortal

   antonyms:

   antemortem

   preceding death
2. adjective

   after death or after an event
   “a postmortem examination to determine the cause of death”

   “the postmortem discussion of the President's TV address”

   synonyms:

   succeeding

   coming after or following
3. noun

   an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease
   synonyms: PM, autopsy, necropsy, post-mortem, post-mortem examination, postmortem examination

   type of:

   examination, scrutiny

   the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes)
4. noun

   discussion of an event after it has occurred
   synonyms: post-mortem

   type of:

   discussion, give-and-take, word

   an exchange of views on some topic