What are pre-plant, pre-emergence, and post-emergence treatments for herbicides?

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Understanding herbicide timing means looking at when weeds and crops are relative to the treatment. Pre-plant means applying the herbicide to the soil before the crop is sown or planted, often aiming to suppress weed seedlings as they begin to grow and sometimes providing residual soil activity. Pre-emergence is applied after the crop has been sown but before the weeds have emerged, creating a chemical barrier in the soil that targets weeds as they germinate or begin to grow. Post-emergence is applied after weeds have emerged (and often after the crop has emerged too), using either non-selective products or selective products that kill the weed while sparing the crop.

This option matches the standard timing sequence: pre-plant before sowing, pre-emergence after sowing but before weeds emerge, and post-emergence after weeds have emerged. Other descriptions that place timing relative to harvest or flowering don’t fit the usual definitions of these terms.