post hoc

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See also: posthoc

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin post hoc.

Adjective[edit]

post hoc (comparative more post hoc, superlative most post hoc)

  1. After the fact.
    • 1986, Ralph B. Taylor, Urban neighborhoods: research and policy, page 239:
      Our work on using research was post hoc rather than planned as an integral part of the original study.
    • 2001, Penelope Eckert with John R. Rickford, Style and sociolinguistic variation, page 155:
      The interpretations offered in this section are clearly much more post hoc than in my discussion of the informants' patterns.
    • 2008, Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric disturbances, page 40:
      But I knew that my reasoning was post hoc, and another voice came in, mocking me, reminding me that post hoc reasoning is the consolation of the psychotic

Adverb[edit]

post hoc (comparative more post hoc, superlative most post hoc)

  1. After the fact.
    • 2005 Fall, David B. Rivkin Jr., “THE VIRTUES OF PREEMPTIVE DETERRENCE”, in Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 29, number 1, page 85:
      Ultimately, the wisdom of preemption will be judged post hoc.
Usage notes[edit]
  • Often written in italics (post hoc) or pronounced as a foreign word.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Noun[edit]

post hoc (plural post hocs)

  1. An instance of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, in which temporal order is confused with causation.
    • 1919, George Saintsbury, A History of the French novel (to the close of the 19th century), page 422:
      or that it is altogether fair to accumulate the post hocs with their inevitable suggestion of propter
    • 1958, Stuart Chase, Guides to straight thinking: with 13 common fallacies - Page 76:
      More grim were the post hocs of the ancient Aztecs. In their experience rain had followed the season of sacrificial rites, and they believed that ....
    • 1966, Lew Sarett with William Trufant Foster, Basic principles of speech, page 302:
      ... or walking under a ladder brings bad luck; belief in astrology; fear of the number thirteen. Advertisers play upon our weakness for post hocs
    • 2006, Gerd Gigerenzer with Christoph Engel, Heuristics and the law, page 332:
      Accordingly, most of the time it is sufficient to draw lines of post hocs and to make a distinction between causes and symptoms in an almost graphic way.
    • 2008, Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric disturbances, page 40:
      But I knew that my reasoning was post hoc, and another voice came in, mocking me, reminding me that post hoc reasoning is the consolation of the psychotic
Usage notes[edit]
  • Often written in italics (post hoc) or pronounced as a foreign word.
  • Often used attributively.
Derived terms[edit]

Latin[edit]

Phrase[edit]

post hoc

  1. after the fact

Related terms[edit]