postmortem

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a medical examination of a body after death to determine the cause of death

   The postmortem showed that the victim had died from internal bleeding.

2. 2
   noun

   an analysis or discussion conducted after an event, especially to learn why it failed

   The project team held a postmortem to identify mistakes before the next release.

3. 3
   adj

   occurring, performed, or discovered after death

   Postmortem tests confirmed the presence of the infection.

From Latin post mortem, literally 'after death': post, 'after,' + mortem, the accusative of mors, 'death.' The later organizational sense treats a completed event like a body being examined for causes.

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