Post mortem or postmortem?
post mortem is an adjective meaning “After death”; postmortem is a noun meaning “Alternative form of post mortem”. post mortem is written as two words and postmortem as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between post mortem and postmortem?
| post mortem | postmortem | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, adverb, noun | noun, adjective |
| Meaning | After death Having been inflicted or having occurred after death Occurring after death | Alternative form of post mortem |
| Example | The hospice's standard procedure for post mortem room cleaning looks very thorough | none recorded |
| Forms | none | postmortems |
| Pronunciation | /ˌpəʊs(t)ˈmɔːtəm/ /ˌpoʊs(t)ˈmɔɹtəm/ | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: post mortem and postmortem in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of post mortem and postmortem
post mortem
- 1
After death
The hospice's standard procedure for post mortem room cleaning looks very thorough
- 2
Occurring after death
The injuries were found to have been caused post mortem
- 3
An investigation of a corpse to determine the cause of death
- 4
Alternative spelling of post mortem
- 5
Alternative spelling of post mortem
- 6
Having been inflicted or having occurred after death
We shouldn't let these post mortem injuries distract us while looking for the cause of death
- 7
Any investigation after the conclusion of an activity, particularly when said activity produces an unwanted outcome
postmortem
- 1
Alternative form of post mortem
- 2
Alternative form of post mortem
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, post mortem or postmortem?
post mortem is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; postmortem about once in every 2 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search post mortem vs postmortem?
“post mortem vs postmortem” is searched about 30 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“postmortem vs post mortem”, “post mortem or postmortem”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.