Nachfugung

Nachfugung is a rarely attested German noun used in some specialized or historical contexts to denote a subsequent addition or amendment to a text, document, or work. The term is built from nach- “after” and Fügung “arrangement, joining, or turn of events,” giving the sense of an addition made after the fact or a post hoc construction. It is not a standard entry in major German dictionaries and is considered marginal in most modern usage, appearing mainly in philological, editorial, or theoretical discussions about textual alterations.

In practice, Nachfugung can refer to post-publication insertions, addenda, errata, or marginal notes that are added after the initial edition. More common modern expressions for these phenomena are Nachtrag (addendum), Nachschrift (postscript or revised text), or Nachbearbeitung (reworking). Some authors may employ Nachfugung to emphasize a fortuitous or conceptual “turn” added after the main text, though this sense is not standardized and remains niche.

Because the term is not widely established, readers encountering Nachfugung should seek contextual clarification within the source to determine the intended meaning. It is advisable to distinguish it from related terms such as Nachtrag and Nachschrift, which are more conventional in describing post-publication or post-text additions. See also: Nachtrag, Nachschrift, Nachbearbeitung, Fügung.