| postposition |
| Definition: A word that has the same function as a preposition, but which comes after the noun it governs. |
| Example:
(1) The wards in the phrase they were heading homewards. (2) the in in the phrase the town that he lives in. |
| Etymology: The word derives from the Late Latin postpositio, place after. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The word's first OED citation is from 1846: "In some classes of languages the whole process of formation is carried on by means of postpositions, generally of a known and determinate signification." (Proceedings of the Philological Society, III., 9) |