Definition
Posteriority is a relational term denoting that something comes after, or is inferior in rank or time to, something else. It is the correlative of priority. In legal usage, it operates in two connected but distinct contexts:
1. Tenure. In the old English law of feudal tenure, a tenant who held lands from two lords was said to hold from the more ancient lord by priority and from the less ancient lord by posteriority. The distinction carried practical consequences for the tenant's obligations and the lord's rights.
2. Liens and encumbrances. Posteriority describes the position of a lien, charge, or claim that arises later in time than another against the same property or fund. A posterior lien is subordinate to a prior lien and is satisfied only after prior claims are discharged.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The condition of being posterior (in any sense).
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The state of being later or subsequent; as, posteriority of time, or of an event — opposed to priority.
The common and legal meanings are not far apart, but legal usage is more precise: posteriority is not merely a neutral description of sequence. In law, it carries consequence. A posterior lien does not merely come second — it is subordinate. Researchers should not read posteriority as a purely descriptive term when encountered in legal sources; it signals a hierarchy of right, not just an ordering in time.
Why It Matters in Research
Posteriority appears almost exclusively in older legal materials. Researchers working in feudal tenure, early equity practice, or historical lien priority doctrine will encounter it regularly; those working in modern sources will rarely see it at all. The term has been largely displaced by plain-language equivalents — subsequent, junior, subordinate — and by the technical vocabulary of lien priority law.
The primary trap in historical sources is treating posteriority as a simple synonym for "later." In tenure law, the word indexed a lord-tenant relationship with specific legal implications about homage, relief, and the lord's remedies. In lien law, it indexed payment priority within a distribution scheme. The two applications are related by analogy, not identity.
Corpus researchers should note that Black's 1st and 2nd editions include the tenure application prominently, reflecting the work's investment in historical common law. Bouvier extends the definition explicitly to lien priority — a more practical orientation that reflects his audience of American practitioners navigating creditor disputes. Burrill anchors the term firmly in old English law and cites Cowell, flagging that by his time the word was already receding from active use.
When tracing priority of liens in historical American sources, posteriority and priority often appear as a paired set. Search both terms together to capture the full doctrinal discussion.
Historical Dictionary Support
All four sources agree on the core definition: posteriority is the correlative of priority, denoting a later or subordinate position, and the feudal tenure illustration — two lords, one prior, one posterior — is the standard explanatory example across the shelf.
The sources diverge in emphasis and reach. Burrill is the most historically conservative, treating posteriority as a term of old English law with limited modern extension. Black's (both editions) acknowledges a "general application in law consistent with its etymological meaning" beyond tenure, though the entry is truncated in available text. Bouvier is the most practically expansive: he explicitly extends the term to lien priority doctrine, noting that prior liens are paid first and posterior liens are paid after — a statement aimed directly at creditor-priority practice.
None of the historical sources connect posteriority to the modern vocabulary of secured transactions or judgment lien ranking, which is unsurprising given their dates. Researchers should not expect these entries to bridge the gap to Article 9 UCC or contemporary recording act priority rules; posteriority in those contexts has been replaced by a precise statutory framework that does not use the term.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Priority of Liens; Feudal Tenure.