poster
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Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈpoʊstɚ/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is formed from the verb post, to fasten up a notice, and -er.[2][3][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
A large printed notice or placard put up in a public place: 1838, in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby.[2][5][3] MWU dates it to 1818.[6]
Semantic evolution
A person who posts bills is from 1864.[5] A decorative printed picture for a wall followed in the 20th century.[7][8] Poster boy or poster child, someone made prominent in a cause, is by 1990, after charity drives featuring child sufferers since the 1930s.[3] An earlier, unrelated poster (about 1600) was one who travels post, a swift traveller, from post, to travel with relays of horses.[3][5]
Timeline
- 1605 – one who travels post.[5]
- 1818 – first use (MWU).[6]
- 1838 – a placard.[2][5]
- 1864 – a bill-poster.[5]
- 1990 – poster child.[3]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A large printed picture or notice put up for advertising or decoration.
- A person who posts a message on the Internet.
Word family
- billposter
- poster paint
- poster boy
- poster child
- poster color
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins