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Webster 1913 Edition

Posture

Pos′ture

(?; 135)
,
Noun.
[F., fr. L.
positura
, fr.
ponere
,
positum
, to place. See
Position
.]
1.
The position of the body; the situation or disposition of the several parts of the body with respect to each other, or for a particular purpose; especially
(Fine Arts)
, the position of a figure with regard to the several principal members by which action is expressed; attitude.
Atalanta, the
posture
of whose limbs was so lively expressed . . . one would have sworn the very picture had run.
Sir P. Sidney.
In most strange
postures

We have seen him set himself.
Shakespeare
The
posture
of a poetic figure is a description of his heroes in the performance of such or such an action.
Dryden.
2.
Place; position; situation.
[Obs.]
Milton.
His [man’s] noblest
posture
and station in this world.
Sir M. Hale.
3.
State or condition, whether of external circumstances, or of internal feeling and will; disposition; mood;
as, a
posture
of defense; the
posture
of affairs.
The several
postures
of his devout soul.
Atterbury.
Syn. – Attitude; position. See
Attitude
.

Pos′ture

(?; 135)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Postured
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Posturing
.]
To place in a particular position or attitude; to dispose the parts of, with reference to a particular purpose;
as, to
posture
one's self; to
posture
a model.
Howell.

Pos′ture

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To assume a particular posture or attitude; to contort the body into artificial attitudes, as an acrobat or contortionist; also, to pose.
2.
Fig.: To assume a character;
as, to
posture
as a saint
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Posture

POS'TURE

,
Noun.
[L. positura; pono, positus.]
1.
In painting and sculpture, attitude; the situation of a figure with regard to the eye, and of the several principal members with regard to each other, by which action is expressed. Postures should be accommodated to the character of the figure, and the posture of each member to its office. Postures are natural or artificial. Natural postures are such as our ordinary actions and the occasions of life lead us to exhibit; artificial postures are such as are assumed or learnt for particular purposes, or in particular occupations, as in dancing, fencing, &c.
2.
Situation; condition; particular state with regard to something else; as the posture of public affairs before or after a war.
3.
Situation of the body; as an abject posture.
4.
State; condition. The fort is in a posture of defense.
5.
The situation or disposition of the several parts of the body with respect to each other, or with respect to a particular purpose.
He casts
His eyes against the moon in most strange postures.
The posture of a poetic figure is the description of the heroes in the performance of such or such an action.
6.
Disposition; frame; as the posture of the soul.

POS'TURE

,
Verb.
T.
To place in a particular manner; to dispose the parts of a body for a particular purpose.
He was raw with posturing himself according to the direction of the chirurgeons.

Definition 2024

posture

posture

English

Noun

posture ‎(plural postures)

  1. The way a person holds and positions their body.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus
      As if that whatsoever god who leads him / Were slily crept into his human powers, / And gave him graceful posture.
    • 1689 (or earlier), Aphra Behn, Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister
      ...walking in a most dejected posture, without a band, unbraced, his arms a-cross his open breast, and his eyes bent to the floor;
    • 1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
      Rise, sir, from this semi-recumbent posture. It is most indecorous.
  2. A situation or condition.
    • 1905, David Graham Phillips, The Deluge
      Even as I was reading these fables of my millions, there lay on the desk before me a statement of the exact posture of my affairs...
    • 1910, H.G. Wells, The History of Mr Polly
      Uncle Jim stopped amazed. His brain did not instantly rise to the new posture of things.
  3. One's attitude or the social or political position one takes towards an issue or another person.
    • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
      ...that is, their Forts, Garrisons, and Guns upon the Frontiers of their Kingdomes; and continuall Spyes upon their neighbours; which is a posture of War.
    • 1912, G.K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men
      But it is not true, no sane person can call it true, that man as a whole in his general attitude towards the world, in his posture towards death or green fields, towards the weather or the baby, will be wise to cultivate dissatisfaction.
  4. (rare) The position of someone or something relative to another; position; situation.
    • 1661, Thomas Salusbury (translator), Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World
      The Moon beheld in any posture, in respect of the Sun and us, sheweth us its superficies ... always equally clear.

Translations

position of body

Verb

posture ‎(third-person singular simple present postures, present participle posturing, simple past and past participle postured)

  1. (intransitive) to put one's body into a posture or series of postures, especially hoping that one will be noticed and admired
    If you're finished posturing in front of the mirror, can I use the bathroom now?
  2. (intransitive) to pretend to have an opinion or a conviction
    The politicians couldn't really care less about the issue: they're just posturing for the media.
  3. (transitive) To place in a particular position or attitude; to pose.
    to posture oneself; to posture a model
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Howell to this entry?)

Anagrams

French

Noun

posture f ‎(plural postures)

  1. posture, attitude
  2. conduct, comportment

Italian

Noun

posture f

  1. plural of postura

Anagrams

Etymology

From French, from Italian postura, from Latin positūra ‎(“position, situation”)

Pronunciation

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