posta

Forms

posta f (plural poste)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pŏsita (“placed, set”), a form of the past participle of pōnō (“to put, to place”).^[2][3][4][1] The sources read the form in two ways: DELI, GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti take it as a neuter plural, “(places) set, fixed”, while Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Wiktionary take it as a feminine singular, an adjective of Latin mansio (“stopping place”), so “fixed stopping place”.^{[2][4][5][3][6][1]} The same participle gave posto.^[3][7]

DELI quotes Migliorini and Duro on the history: the oldest sense is “stop, station”, then “the place where the coaches of the courier services stopped and changed horses”, and, from there “postal service”.^[2] Nocentini adds that the relay stations for changing horses on long journeys gave their name, from the 17th century, to the mail carried by that system, and that French poste and Spanish posta come from Italian and spread the word across Europe.^[3][8] The Latin verb itself goes back to a compound Proto-Italic *po-sine/o- (“to put down”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record DELI gives is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, in the old sense “pleasure, will” (as in a posta “at one's pleasure”).^[2][4] The sense “fixed point for a stop” is in the Laudi of Urbino about 1300, and the hunter's waiting place, where he stands still for the game, in Dante, before 1321.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The posta as a stage for coaches, travellers and couriers on the main roads is recorded in the 14th century, in the Italian Milione of Marco Polo.^[2] Other senses followed: the stake in a game or bet (before 1400, Sacchetti) and an animal's stall (1517–1524, Ariosto).^[2] Dante's alla posta already shows the place where one waits, the source of the phrase fare la posta “to lie in wait for someone”.^[10][11]

Postal services grew from the couriers of the merchants of the 14th century, and DEI dates the first service in the modern sense to Francesco Tasso (Taxis), at Venice in 1502;^[12] Prati places the beginning of the organised service in Austria about 1500.^[13] Tommaso Garzoni in 1585 uses posta for the place where letters are handed in, and the sense “public mail service” is recorded in 1730–1736 (Lione Pascoli), “letters received” in 1891 (Petrocchi).^[2][13] The adjective postale appears in Vincenzo Monti in 1809, and postino, in 1839–1841, spread probably from Rome and replaced the Tuscan procaccia.^[2]

French took poste in the sense “relay of horses” (1480), “post office” (1655) and “postal service” (1869), and German Post is recorded about 1500.^[14] Wiktionary lists many later borrowings, among them Czech pošta, Hungarian posta and German Post.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses posta for “pleasure, will”.^[2]
• About 1300 – The Laudi of Urbino use it for a fixed stopping place.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a hunter's waiting place.^[2]
• 14th century – The Italian Milione uses it for a coaching stage.^[2]
• Before 1400 – Sacchetti uses it for a stake in a game.^[2]
• 1480 – French poste “relay of horses” is recorded.^[14]
• 1502 – Francesco Tasso organises a postal service at Venice.^[12]
• 1585 – Garzoni uses posta for the place where letters are handed in.^[2]
• 1730–1736 – The sense “mail service” is recorded.^[2]
• 1809 – Postale appears in Vincenzo Monti.^[2]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records posta “correspondence”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. mail, post: the public service that collects, sorts and delivers letters and parcels: Ti mando il libro per posta.^[4][6][1]
2. (plural, capitalised) le Poste, the postal administration and its staff.^[4][6]
3. A post office: Devo passare alla posta prima delle sei.^[4][6][1]
4. The letters and parcels delivered; correspondence; also posta elettronica, e-mail.^[4][5][11]
5. A newspaper column or a broadcast made up of letters from readers or listeners: la posta del cuore.^[4][5]
6. (hunting) The place where the hunter waits for the game, fare la posta a qualcuno “to lie in wait for someone”.^[11][15][16]
7. A stake in a game or bet: la posta in gioco “what is at stake”.^[6][1]
8. (dated) A fixed place to stop or stay; the stall of an animal in a stable; a ship's mooring; a pitch in a market.^[4][5]
9. (historical) A coaching stage, where horses were changed; the coach that ran between stages.^[11][15]

Word family

• postale
• postino
• postagiro
• postelegrafico
• postelegrafonico
• apposta
• impostare
• fermoposta
• postacelere
• posteggiare

Related words

• posto
• porre
• French poste

Usage notes

Two minor words share the spelling.^[4] Posta with a closed /o/, a regional Tuscan noun formed from posto “placed”, means the placing or planting of something (la posta dei semi) and, in old use, a footprint, as in Dante's dietro a le poste de le care piante “behind the footprints of the dear feet”.^[4][6][5] An obsolete posta “abscess” of the 14th century is a shortening of postema.^[4][10] A bella posta and the adverb apposta mean “on purpose”.^[4][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 339
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 1055
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3036
13. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 799
14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli