pre-mortem

See also: premortem and pre mortem

English

Etymology

pre- +‎ mortem, (in contrast to post-mortem).

Adjective

pre-mortem (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of premortem
   • 1885, W. Pengelly, “Prince’s “Worthies of Devon” and the “Dictionary of National Biography””, in Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, volume XVII, Plymouth: W. Brendon & Son, […], “Part I”, page 202:

     The only guess I can make, and nothing beyond guessing seems possible in the case, is that the monument, if really erected in memory of Sir John Ackland, was executed in his lifetime, at his order and cost, and was completed—perhaps erected—in 1613–14. Pre-mortem monuments are by no means rare.

   • 2007, Derrick J. Pounder, Alan Wayne Jones, “5. Alcohol”, “3. Post-Mortem Alcohol — Aspects of Interpretation”, in Steven B. Karch, editor, Drug Abuse Handbook, 2nd edition, CRC Press, →ISBN, “2. Post-Mortem Specimens for Alcohol Analysis”, page 377:

     This should be borne in mind whenever alcohol has been measured in serum or plasma in hospital prior to death or where a pre-mortem hospital sample of serum or plasma is subsequently analyzed for alcohol.

   • 2014, Gustavo Subero, “Chapter 2: Constructing the Visual Rhetoric of AIDS in the Photographic Work of Mario Vivado and Hector Toscano”, in Representations of HIV/AIDS in Contemporary Hispano-American and Caribbean Culture, Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 19:

     However, more recently photography has also been preoccupied with a kind of pre-mortem state as photographers become increasingly interested in the process whereby the body decays and transforms until it ceases to exist.

Adverb

pre-mortem (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of premortem
   • 2001, P. B. Best, Right Whales: Worldwide Status, page 194, column 1:

     Histology of internal organs and fluid found in body cavities can be useful for even moderately decomposed animals to identify haemorrhaging and blood clotting, which would only occur pre-mortem.

   • 2013, Karmen Mackendrick, “1. Seductive Epistemology: Thinking with Assent”, in Divine Enticement: Theological Seductions, Fordham University Press, →ISBN, page 37:

     Evidently these doubts provoked not only astonishment, but concern as to whether the push for her canonization, which had even begun pre-mortem, was appropriate.

   • 2016, Barrington Black, “14. The Heart Valve, the Tie Round the Neck and Alban Beresford Elcock”, in Both Sides of the Bench, revised 1st edition, Waterside Press, →ISBN, page 107:

     Dr Green concluded that he could not entirely exclude the possibility of post-mortem injury; however, those suspicions which he held about something nasty having happened pre-mortem were supported by the discovery that both feet had been held together by nylon tights, with pieces of tights material tied in a loop and with knots also lying nearby.

Noun

pre-mortem (plural pre-mortems)

1. Alternative spelling of premortem
   • 2004 November, Troy S. Thomas, “5. Anticipating Actions”, in Beneath the Surface: Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace for Counterterrorism, Washington, DC: Joint Military Intelligence College, →ISBN, “Good Prospects”, “Hypothesis Generation”, “Pre-mortems”, page 216:

     The pre-mortem is the most elegant of the methods for its simplicity, but it can suffer from limited expert participation and a less rigorous process. Pre-mortems have gained traction among military planners as way to overcome placing too much confidence in their own plans.

   • 2013 August 28, Derek Thompson, “How Goliaths Beat Themselves: Microsoft's Mobile Failure and the Innovator's Dilemma”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Some of the best pre-mortems for Steve Ballmer, out-going CEO of Microsoft, have chalked up the company's problem to the "innovator's dilemma."

   • 2014, Adam Shostack, “Part I: Getting Started”, “Chapter 2: Strategies for Threat Modeling”, in Threat Modeling: Designing for Security, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, “Summary”, page 56:

     There are more structured approaches to brainstorming, including scenario analysis, pre-mortems, movie plotting, and literature reviews, which can help bring a little structure, but they’re still not great.

   • 2018, Joseph Phillips, PMI-ACP Agile Certified Practitioner All-in-One Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill Professional, →ISBN, page 288:

     As you look at your agile team’s high-level project plan, you notice there are three pre-mortems scheduled. You ask your leader to define a pre-mortem.