Etymologically
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postage

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpəʊstɪd͡ʒ/[1]
  • US: /ˈpoʊstɪd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English post2 + -age, the first element being the noun for the mail.[2][3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The amount charged for carrying a letter or parcel: 1536, in a letter of B. Tuke.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline (1580s) and the Shorter Oxford (late 16th century) put the sense "the sending of letters by post" first,[3][4] but the OED's revised entry has the charge earlier, in 1536, and the carrying of letters from 1566.[2] From 1650 the word could also mean a postal service between particular places, a sense obsolete by the late 18th century.[2][4] A group of senses connected with travel by post-horses, the journey itself (1603) and the charge for hiring a post-horse (1660), has also died out.[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it only as money paid for carrying a letter.[7] The compound postage stamp is recorded from 1840;[3] Etymonline notes that stamps were being collected in albums by 1862.[3]

Timeline

  • 1536 – the charge for carrying a letter or parcel.[2][5]
  • 1566 – the carrying or sending of letters by post.[2]
  • 1603 – travel by post-horses (obsolete by the late 19th century).[2][4]
  • 1650 – a postal service between particular places (obsolete by 1779).[2][4]
  • 1660 – the charge for hiring a post-horse (obsolete).[2]
  • 1840 – postage stamp.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The fee charged for sending a letter or parcel by mail: The postage on the parcel came to more than its contents were worth.[5][2][7]
  2. Stamps or printed marks showing that this fee has been paid: an envelope without enough postage.[5]
  3. (obsolete, 1650–1779) A postal service, especially one between particular places.[2][4][5]

Word family

  • postage meter
  • postage stamp

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.