Pos"tern (?), n. [OF. posterne, posterle, F. poterne, fr. L. posterula, fr. posterus coming after. See Posterior.]
1.
Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate.
He by a privy postern took his flight.
Spenser.
Out at the postern, by the abbey wall.
Shak.
2. Fort.
A subterraneous passage communicating between the parade and the main ditch, or between the ditches and the interior of the outworks.
Mahan.
© Webster 1913.
Pos"tern, a.
Back; being behind; private.
"The
postern door."
Dryden.
© Webster 1913.