conjunction
postquam
postquam
Classical[ˈpɔs(t).kʷãː]Ecclesiastical[ˈpɔst.kʷam]
№ 384 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- after
eō postquam Caesar pervēnit, obsidēs, arma, servōs, qui ad eōs perfūgissent, poposcit.
After Caesar had come thither, he demanded hostages, their arms, and the slaves who had deserted to them.100 BCE – 44 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello gallico 1.27.3 - since
postquam inter nōs est plūs feritātis habet.
since she has been among us, she has more of wildness38 CE – 104 CE, Martialis, Spectactula 1.18.6
postquam (posquam, Att. ap. Non. 109, 26, acc. to Rib. Trag. Rel. v. 118; id. Verg. A. 3, 463; cf. Munro ad Lucr. 4, 1186; Rib. Prol. ad Verg. p. 442; also separately, post quam),
I. conj.
I. After that, after, as soon as, when (class., but rare in Cic., who commonly writes postea quam; v. postea); constr. usually with histor. pres., or perf. or imperf. indic., or subj.; rarely with pluperf. (v. Zumpt, § 507, b; cf. Weissenb. ad Liv. 22, 1, 1;
Krebs, Antibarb. p. 889): abeo ab illis, postquam video, me sic ludificarier, Plaut. Capt. 3, 1, 27; id. Most. 3, 3, 22; Ter. Hec. 5, 3, 28: postquam res eorum satis prospera videbatur, Sall. C. 6, 3; cf. id. J. 13, 5 al.: eo postquam Caesar pervenit, obsides, arma poposcit, Caes. B. G. 1, 27: post quam armis disceptari coeptum est de jure publico, nihil esse actum cum dignitate, Cic. Fam. 4, 4, 3: postquam id difficilius visum est neque facultas perficiendi dabatur, transierunt, etc., Caes. B. C. 3, 60, 5: postquam divitiae honori esse coepere, et eas gloria sequebatur, Sall. C. 12, 1; cf. id. J. 70, 5: undecimo die postquam a te discesseram, Cic. Att. 12, 1, 1: quod post accidisset, quam dedissem ad te liberto litteras, id. ib. 6, 3, 1: quartum post annum, quam redierat, Nep. Dion, 10, 3.—With post: postquam comedit rem, post rationem putat, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 15.— II. With an accessory idea of cause, since, because, inasmuch as (rare and mostly poet.):
nunc ego illam me velim convenire, postquam inanis sum, Plaut. Bacch. 3, 6, 2; id. Most. 3, 3, 22: postquam poëta sensit, scripturam suam Ab iniquis observari, Ter. Ad. prol. 1 (postquam pro quoniam, Don.): postquam suas terras sedem belli esse viderent, verterunt, etc. (= cum), Liv. 22, 1, 1: sed periit, postquam cerdonibus esse timendus Coeperat; hoc nocuit, etc., Juv. 4, 153; Tac. A. 1, 68.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
post-quam or post quam
conj, after that, after, as soon as, when : postquam convenere, S.: postquam Caesar pervenit, obsides poposcit, Cs.: post quam armis disceptari coeptum est: undecimo die postquam a te discesseram: quod post accidisset, quam dedissem ad te, liberto tuo, litteras: quartum post annum, quam redierat, N.— Since, because, inasmuch as: Postquam sensit observari, etc., T.: postquam suas terras sedem belli esse viderent, verterunt, etc., L.
Origins
A univerbation of post (“after”) and quam (“than”).