Online Etymology Dictionary

post (3): "mail system," 1506, from post (2) on notion of riders and horses posted at intervals along a route to speed mail in relays, from M.Fr. poste in this sense (1477). The verb meaning "to send through the postal system" is recorded from 1837. Postmark (n.) is first recorded 1678; postman first recorded 1529; postcard is from 1870. Post office first recorded 1652 as "public department in charge of letter-carrying;" Meaning "Building where postal business is carried on" is from 1657. In slang or euphemistic sense of "sexual game" it refers to a parlor game first attested early 1850s in which pretend "letters" were paid for by kisses.
post (v.): "to put up bail money," 1781, from one of the posts, but which one is uncertain.
post factum: 1692, from L., lit. "after the fact."
post meridiem: "after noon," 1647, from L., from post "after" + acc. of meridies "midday, noon."
post-: prefix meaning "after," from L. post "behind, after, afterward," from *pos-ti (cf. Arcadian pos, Doric poti "toward, to, near, close by;" O.C.S. po "behind, after," pozdu "late;" Lith. pas "at, by"), from PIE *po- (cf. Gk. apo "from," L. ab "away from"). Logical fallacy post hoc, ergo propter hoc is L., lit. "after this, therefore because of this," attested from 1704. Post-bellum used in U.S. South from 1874 in ref. to Amer. Civil War; post-war first recorded 1908 in ref. to the Boer War.
post-date (v.): 1624, from post- + date (v.) "to assign a date to, to mark a date on."
post-graduate (adj.): 1858, originally Amer.Eng., from post- + graduate (adj.). As a noun, attested from 1890. Abbreviation post-grad is recorded from 1950.
post-impressionism: 1910, from post- + impressionism (see impressionist).
Post-it: 1975, proprietary name.
post-millennial: 1851, from post- "after" + millennial; chiefly in ref. to the Protestant doctrine that the second coming of Christ will occur after, not at, the Christian millennium.
post-modern: 1949, from post- + modern. Originally in architecture writing; specific sense in the arts emerged 1960s. Postmodernism defined by Terry Eagleton as "the contemporary movement of thought which rejects ... the possibility of objective knowledge" and is therefore "skeptical of truth, unity, and progress."
post-mortem: 1734, from L. post mortem, from post "after" + mortem, accusative of mors "death" (see mortal). As a shortening of post-mortem examination it is recorded from 1850.
post-operative: "occurring after a surgical operation," 1889; short form post-op is attested from 1971.
post-partum: 1844, "occurring after birth," from L. post partum "after birth," from post "after" + acc. of partus "a bearing, a bringing forth," from partus, pp. of parere "to bring forth" (see pare). Post-partum depression first attested 1929.
postage: "cost of sending something by mail," 1654, from post (3). Postage stamp is attested from 1840; they were recorded as being collected in albums by 1862.
postal: "pertaining to the mail system," 1843, on model of Fr. postale (1836), from post (3). Noun meaning "state of irrational and violent anger" (usually in phrase going postal) attested by 1997, in ref. to a cluster of news-making workplace shootings in U.S. by what were commonly described as "disgruntled postal workers" (the cliche itself, though not the phrase, goes back to at least 1994).
poster: 1838, from post (1) in the verbal sense of "fasten to a post" (1633). Poster boy/girl/child "someone given prominence in certain causes" is from 1980s, in ref. to fund-raising drives for charities associated with disability, featuring child sufferers, a feature since 1930s.
posterior (adj.): 1534, "later," from L. posterior "after, later, behind," comparative of posterus "coming after, subsequent," from post "after" (see post-). Meaning "buttocks" is attested from 1619.
posterity: 1387, from O.Fr. posterité, from L. posteritatem (nom. posteritas) "the condition of coming after," from posterus "coming after, subsequent," from post "after."
postern: late 13c., "back door, private door," from O.Fr. posterne, earlier posterle, from L.L. posterula "small back door or gate," dim. of L. posterus "that is behind, coming after, subsequent," from post "after."
posthaste: 1545, usually said to be from "post haste" instruction formerly written on letters (attested from 1538), from post (3) "system for sending mail" + haste. The verb post "to ride or travel with great speed" is recorded from 1558.
posthumous: 1608, "born after the death of the originator" (author or father), from L.L. posthumus, from L. postumus "last, last-born," superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent." Altered in L.L. by association with L. humare "to bury," suggesting death; the one born after the father's death obviously being the last.
postillon: 1591, from M.Fr. postillon (1538), from It. postiglione "forerunner, guide," especially for one carrying mail on horseback, from posta "mail" (see post (3)) + compound suffix from L. -ilio.
postlude: 1851, from post- + (pre)lude.
postpone: 1500, from L. postponere "put after, neglect, postpone," from post "after" + ponere "put, place" (see position).
postprandial: 1820, formed from post- "after" + L. prandium "luncheon, meal," from *pram "early" + edere "to eat" (see edible).
postscript: 1523, from L. post scriptum "written after," from neuter pp. of L. postscribere "write after," from post "after" + scribere "to write" (see script).
postulate (v.): 1433 (implied in postulation), "nominate to a church office," from M.L. postulatus, pp. of postulare "to ask, demand," probably formed from pp. of L. poscere "ask urgently, demand," from *posk-to-, Italic inchoative of PIE base *prek- "to ask questions" (cf. Skt. prcchati, Avestan peresaiti "interrogates," O.H.G. forskon, Ger. forschen "to search, inquire"). Use in logic dates from 1646, borrowed from M.L. The noun is first recorded 1588.
posture: 1605, from Fr. posture (16c.), from It. postura "position, posture," from L. positura "position, station," from postulus, pp. of ponere "put, place" (see position). The verb, in the fig. sense of "to take up an artificial mental position" is attested from 1877. Posturpedic trademark name (Sealy, Inc., Chicago) for a brand of mattress, filed in 1951.
posy: 1533, "line of verse engraved on the inner surface of a ring," from poesy (q.v.), recorded in this sense from c.1430. Meaning "flower, bouquet" first recorded 1573, from notion of the language of flowers.
pot (1): "vessel," from late O.E. pott and O.Fr. pot, both from a general Low Gmc. and Romanic word from V.L. *pottus, of uncertain origin, said by OED to be unconnected to L.L. potus "drinking cup" (c.600). Celtic forms are said to be borrowed from Eng. and French. Slang meaning "large sum of money staked on a bet" is attested from 1823. Potbellied is first attested 1657; potholder is from 1928. Pot roast is from 1881; pot-pie is 1823, Amer.Eng.; phrase go to pot (16c.) suggests cooking. Potboiler in the literary sense is 1864, from notion of something one writes just to put food on the table. Potted in the fig. sense of "put into a short, condensed form" is attested from 1866. In phrases, the pot calls the kettle black-arse is from c.1700; shit or get off the pot is traced by Partridge to Canadian armed forces in World War II.
pot (2): "marijuana," 1938, probably a shortened form of Mexican Sp. potiguaya "marijuana leaves."
pot-hole: 1826, originally a geological feature in glaciers and gravel beds, from M.E. pot in sense of "a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging" (late 14c., sense now generally obsolete, but preserved in Scotland and northern England dialect); perhaps ultimately related to pot (1) on notion of "deep, cylindrical shape." Applied to holes in a road from 1909.
potable: 1572, from O.Fr. potable (14c.), from L.L. potabilis "drinkable," from L. potare "to drink" (see potion).
potash: 1648, loan-translation of Du. potaschen, lit. "pot ashes," so called because it was originally obtained by soaking wood ashes in water and evaporating the mixture in an iron pot. Cf. Ger. Pottasche, Dan. potaske, Swed. pottaska. See also potassium. Fr. potasse (1577), It. potassa are Gmc. loan-words.
potassium: 1807, coined by Eng. chemist Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) from Mod.L. potassa, Latinized form of potash (q.v.). Davy first isolated it from potash. Symbol K is from L. kalium "potash."
potato: 1565, from Sp. patata, from Carib (Haiti) batata "sweet potato." Sweet potatoes were first to be introduced to Europe; in cultivation in Spain by mid-16c.; in Virginia by 1648. Early 16c. Port. traders carried the crop to all their shipping ports and the sweet potato was quickly adopted from Africa to India and Java. The name later (1597) was extended to the common white potato, from Peru, which was at first (mistakenly) called Virginia potato, or, because at first it was of minor importance compared to the sweet potato, bastard potato. Sp. invaders in Peru began to use white potatoes as cheap food for sailors 1536. The first potato from South America reached Pope Paul III in 1540; grown in France at first as an ornamental plant. According to popular tradition, introduced to Ireland 1565 by John Hawkins. Brought to England from Colombia by Sir Thomas Herriot, 1586. Ger. kartoffel (17c.) is a dissimilation from tartoffel, ult. from It. tartufolo (V.L. *territuberem), originally "truffle." Frederick II forced its cultivation on Prussian peasants in 1743. The Fr. is pomme de terre, lit. "earth-apple;" a Swed. dialectal word for "potato" is jordpäron, lit. "earth-pear." Colloquial pronunciation tater is attested in print from 1759. To drop (something) like a hot potato is from 1846. Children's counting-out rhyme that begins one potato, two potato first recorded 1885 in Canada.
poteen: "illicit whiskey," 1812, from Ir. poitin "little pot," suggesting distillation in small quantities, from Eng. pot (1) "vessel" + dim. suffix -in, -een.
potent: c.1500, from L. potentem (nom. potens) "powerful," prp. of *potere "be powerful," from potis "powerful, able, capable" (cognate with Skt. patih "master, husband," Gk. posis, Lith. patis "husband"). Meaning "having sexual power" is first recorded 1899. Potency is attested from 1539, from L. potentia "power," from potentem "potent."
potentate: c.1400, from L.L. potentatus "a ruler," also "political power," from L. potentatus "power, dominion," from potentem (nom. potens) "powerful" (see potent).
potential: late 14c., "possible" (as opposed to actual), from L.L. potentialis "potential," from L. potentia "power" (see potent). The noun, meaning "that which is possible," is first attested 1817, from the adj.
pother: c.1591, "disturbance, commotion," of unknown origin. Meaning "mental trouble" is from 1641; verb sense of "to fluster" is attested from 1692.
potion: c.1300, from O.Fr. pocion (12c.), from L. potionem (nom. potio) "potion, a drinking," from potus "drunken," irregular pp. of potare "to drink," from PIE base *po-/*pi- "drink" (cf. Skt. pati "drinks;" Gk. pinein "to drink," poton "that which one drinks," potos "drinking bout;" O.C.S. piti "to drink," pivo "beverage").
potlatch: 1845, from Chinook jargon, "a gift," from Wakashan (Nootka) patshatl "giving, gift."
potluck: 1592, from pot (1) + luck, with notion of "one's luck or chance as to what may be in the pot."
Potomac: from Algonquian Patowmeck, originally the name of a native village in Virginia, perhaps lit. "something brought."
potpourri: 1611, "mixed meats served in a stew," from Fr. pot pourri "stew," lit. "rotten pot" (loan-translation of Sp. olla podrida), from pourri, pp. of pourrir "to rot," from V.L. *putrire, from L. putrescere "grow rotten" (see putrescent). Notion of "medley" led to meaning "mixture of dried flowers and spices," first recorded in Eng. 1749. Fig. sense (originally in music) of "miscellaneous collection" is recorded from 1855.
potsherd: early 14c., from pot (1) + schoord, from O.E. sceard (see shard).
potshot: 1858, "shot taken at animal simply to kill for food," in other words, to get it in the pot, not for sporting or marksmanship. Extended sense of "opportunistic criticism" first recorded 1926.
pottage: early 13c., lit. "that which is put in a pot," from O.Fr. potage "soup," from pot "pot" (see pot (1)).