afterwardsness

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noun

The concept that an earlier event in one's life can later acquire a meaning.

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Meanings

nounafterwardsness (uncountable)

alternative afterwardness

  1. uncountablehuman sciencesThe concept that an earlier event in one's life can later acquire a meaning.

Origin

From afterwards + -ness. Coined by Jean Laplanche in his 1998 work Essays on Otherness, as a translation of Sigmund Freud's German term Nachträglichkeit, on the model of the French translation après-coup.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Portuguese posterioridade
  • posterioridadethe concept that an earlier event in one's life can later acquire a meaning
Cite this entry
APA

afterwardsness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afterwardsness

MLA

“afterwardsness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afterwardsness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “afterwardsness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afterwardsness.

Source: afterwardsness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.