posterior

posterior adj Posterior, rear, hind, hinder, after, back are comparable when they mean behind in order of ar-rangement in space.

Posterior is the usual technical term for whatever is situated behind and is opposed to anterior

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to an anatomical eye the posterior part of the skull is even more striking than the anterior— T. H. Huxley

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Rear belongs especially to military usage, but has general application with reference to such things as structures and vehicles

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the rear ranks of a column

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the rear wall of a house

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Hind, opposed to front or fore, is used most commonly with reference to related parts and designates the member or pair which is in the rear

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the hind wheels of a wagon

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the hind legs of a horse

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It has sometimes more general application

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had a boy-size pair of empty overhalls blowing out of his hind pocket— Faulkner

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Hinder is equivalent to hind or, in nontechnical use, to posterior

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a long oval forward part and a taillike hinder portion— Coker

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After is largely confined to nautical usage and applies to whatever is abaft the midship section, or in the rear part of a vessel, or relatively near to this part

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the after cabin

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the after hatchway

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Back applies to what is thought of as behind, remote from, or inferior or subsidiary to, the main or more important part

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back stairs

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back door

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the near woodlands and back pastures afford good hunting— Amer. Guide Series: Tenn.

}

Antonyms: anterior