philately
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
1865, borrowed from French philatélie, coined by French stamp collector Georges Herpin (in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-poste, Nov. 15, 1864) from Ancient Greek φιλέω (philéō, “I love”) + ἀτέλεια (atéleia), the closest word he could find in Ancient Greek to the concept of “postage stamp”, from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + τέλος (télos, “tax”). This word serves as a reminder of the original function of postage stamps, now often forgotten: the cost of letter-carrying formerly was paid by the recipient; stamps indicated it had been pre-paid by the sender, thus the letters were “carriage-free”.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
philately (countable and uncountable, plural philatelies)
- Stamp collecting.
- The study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
stamp collecting
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the study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
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References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “philately”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 4-syllable words
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- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms prefixed with phil-