post scriptum

See also: postscriptum

English

Noun

post scriptum (plural post scripta or post scriptums)

1. Alternative form of postscriptum.
   • 1839, George Gordon N. Byron, Life, letters and journals of lord Byron, with notes, [by T. Moore]:

     Post Scriptum — Long as this letter has grown, I find it necessary to append a postscript ; if possible, a short one.

   • 1904, Ohio state medical society, Transactions of the First-fifty-ninth Annual Meeting:

     Post Scriptum — I regret that time does not permit me to re-write and correct and condense the whole of this communication.

   • 1904 April 7, “Recent Fiction”, in The Independent: A Weekly Magazine, volume LVI, number 2888, New York, N.Y., page 795, column 1:

     Then each one begins to add enigmatical post scriptums to her letters.

   • 1940 December 28, “Jim Owen Offers to Scare Quails and Felt Comes Out With News Chat”, in Charles E. ‘Chick’ Lewis, editor, Showmen’s Trade Review, volume 33, number 23, page 12, column 2:

     We can’t pass on to another subject until we quote a couple of those “post scriptums” at the end of Jim’s message.

   • 1973, Peter Shaffer, “Act II, Scene 27”, in Equus, page 84:

     DYSART: I got your letter. Thank you. [Pause.] Also the Post Scriptum. / ALAN [defensively]: That's the right word. My mum told me. It's Latin for 'After-writing'.

   • [2004, Susan Wise Bauer, The Story of the World:

     Have you ever written “PS” at the end of a letter? If so, you've used Latin words. “PS” stands for the Latin words “post scriptum”, or “after the writing”.]

   • 2010, Melissa Glenn Haber, Dear Anjali, New York, N.Y.: Aladdin, →ISBN, page 164:

     P.P.P.S. Apparantly^[sic] the rule is also that you are not supposed to write post scriptums in English papers either. So there you go. Live and learn. Or I guess in your case you can die and learn, too.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔst skʁip.tɔm/, /pɔs skʁip.tɔm/

Phrase

post scriptum m (plural post scriptum or post scriptums)

1. postscriptum
   • 1923, La Grande revue, volume 113, page 613:

     Trop longues ! j’avais souri ; et par manière de riposte je me souviens lui avoir envoyé une lettre qui, à chaque page, semblait s’arrêter pour reprendre avec des post scriptums qui s’ajoutaient les uns aux autres sans qu’il y eût de raisons que cela finit.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1997, Éléments de common law et aperçu comparatif du droit civil québécois, Scarborough, Ont.: Carswell, →ISBN, page 543:

     Règle générale, les post scriptum ne font donc pas partie du testament.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Latin

Phrase

post scrīptum

1. postscript, after text, literary afterthought (at the end of any text)
2. after the written part

Spanish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin post scrīptum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpost esˈkɾibtum/ [ˌpost̪ esˈkɾiβ̞.t̪ũm]
• IPA^(key): /ˌpost skɾibˈtum/ [ˌpost̪ skɾiβ̞ˈt̪ũm]
  • Syllabification: post scrip‧tum

Noun

post scriptum m (uncountable)

1. synonym of posdata

   Alternative form: post scríptum

   Synonym: P. S.

Usage notes

• Usually abbreviated P. S.

Further reading

• “post scriptum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026
• “post scriptum”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española]; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2023, →ISBN
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “post scriptum”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA