a paragraph, phrase, etc., added to a letter that has already been concluded and signed by the writer.
any addition or supplement, as one appended by a writer to a book to supply further information.
a message added at the end of a letter, after the signature
any supplement, as to a document or book
1515–25; < Latin postscrīptum, neuter past participle of postscrībere to write after
A postscript is text added at the end of a book or other document. Your textbook is so long that by the time you finish it, you're too exhausted to read the postscript. Postscript comes from the Latin word postscribere, with post meaning after and scribere meaning to write. A postscript especially refers to a note added after the signature of a letter. In this use, it's often abbreviated as P.S. A mother's favorite thing might be getting a letter from her kid at camp that says, "I love you, Mom," especially if there is a postscript adding hugs and kisses, written this way: "P.S. XOXOXOXOX."
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This became Postscript, which was first bundled into Apple printers and soon became the de facto standard for computer printing.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2023
Postscript: What about your professional and personal lives?
From Seattle Times • Mar. 31, 2023
Postscript: Not long after my mid-October visit, Luna and Pamela were adopted.
From Washington Post • Oct. 28, 2021
Among your numerous friends you ask only for Punch, & this in the Postscript, which is said to contain the essence of a lady’s letter.
From Slate • Jan. 31, 2021
The Preface and Answer to the Preface having been read, the further discovery is made that there is a Postscript.
From The Gentle Reader by Crothers, Samuel McChord
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
