postal English · revision 15130

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1842}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈpəʊ.stəl/, US /ˈpoʊ.stəl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|postal]], from [[m|fr|poste|t=postal service]],^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) or formed in English from [[post]], the mail, on the model of the French adjective.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Relating to the post or the carriage of mail: 1842 in Merriam-Webster, 1843 in Etymonline and the OED.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In American English a postal was also a postal car or mail train (1871).^(OED 1989) The ''postal ballot'', voting by post, is from 1945.^(OED 1989) ''Going postal'', flying into a violent rage, is attested by 1997, after a series of workplace shootings in the United States by what news reports called a “disgruntled postal worker”, a cliché from at least 1994.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1842 – relating to the mail.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1871 – a postal car (US).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1945 – postal ballot.^(OED 1989)

+ * by 1997 – going postal.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to the post office or the mail service.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''go postal'' ''(US slang)'': to become uncontrollably or violently angry.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[postally]]

+ * [[semipostal]]

+ * [[postal service]]

+ * [[postal order]]

+ * [[postal code]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[post]]

+ * [[post office]]

+ * [[postage]]

+ * [[postman]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}