postman

Etymology

It is formed from English post² + man,^[2][3][4][5] from the noun in the sense of the riders and horses stationed along a route to carry messages, later the postal system.^[3] This noun is from Middle French poste (“relay station, courier”), from Italian posta, the feminine of posto, from Latin positus, the past participle of pōnō (“to put, place”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A courier who rides post: 1529, in the accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland.^[2][4] Dictionary.com dates it to 1520–30.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The postman was first a mounted courier carrying letters by relays of horses, a sense now historical.^[2][5][3] When the post became a public system for carrying letters, the word passed to the person who delivers or collects them: Etymonline finds this by 1758,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford dates it to the mid 18th century.^[5] The OED notes that it now also refers to women.^[2] From 1695 it was used for a newsman or news writer, and as the title of a newspaper.^[2] Postman's knock is a sharp knock on a door, and also a party game in which a player acting as postman delivers letters paid for with kisses.^[5]

Timeline

• 1529 – a courier who rides post.^[2][4]
• 1695 – a news writer; the title of a newspaper.^[2]
• 1758 – a man who delivers letters, a mailman.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who delivers or collects mail; a mail carrier or mailman: The postman left a parcel with the neighbours.^[4][2][5]
2. (historical) A courier who carried letters by relays of horses.^[2][5]

Related words

• post
• postmaster
• postage
• postal

Usage notes

In the former English Court of Exchequer the postman was a barrister with precedence in motions except in Crown business (1768, in Blackstone), named from the post, used as a measure of length in excise cases, beside which he stood; compare tubman.^[2][4][5] The OED also records a single use (1605) of postman for a person hired to write libels.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House