philately

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɪˈlæt.ə.li/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French philatélie,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} coined in 1864 by the French stamp collector Georges Herpin,^[4] from Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “loving”) and Ancient Greek ἀτέλεια (atéleia, “exemption from tax”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from a- “without” and télos “tax”.^[2][3][4][5] A postage stamp showed that the charge had been prepaid, so the letter was free of charge to the recipient.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The collecting and study of postage stamps (1865).^[3][4][7][5]

Semantic evolution

Fowler regretted that so popular a pursuit had so unintelligible a name.^[4] Rival words of the 1860s included stampomania and timbrology.^[4] In the OED the word also means stamps collectively (1930).^[7]

Timeline

• 1862 – stamp-collecting.^[4]
• 1864 – French philatélie.^[4]
• 1865 – philately, philatelist.^[3][4][7]
• 1930 – stamps collectively.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The collecting and study of postage stamps, postmarks and related material; stamp collecting.
2. The study of postal history.

Word family

• philatelic
• philatelically
• philatelist
• aerophilately

Related words

• telos
• toll

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press