poste French · revision 15939

+ French has two nouns ''poste'', both from Italian: the feminine ''la poste'' “post, mail; post office”, from ''posta'', and the masculine ''le poste'' “post, position; set”, from ''posto''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

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+ {{homograph|1|post office}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1480, Louis XI|origins=la pōnō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɔst/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''poste''' ''f'' (plural postes)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The feminine is [[bor|it|posta|t=stall; relay of horses]],^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 164a) the feminine past participle used as a noun of [[m|it|porre|t=to place, put]], from [[la|pōnō|t=to place]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Petit Robert takes “posta” from Latin “posita” “places, positions”.^(Petit Robert 2007) Marco Polo's French (1298) already has “poste de chevaus”, translating Italian.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A letter of Louis XI (29 October 1480) uses it for the body of mounted couriers carrying letters and for each relay of horses along their road;^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) the royal postal service had been set up about 1475.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Travelling by relays gave ''chevaulx de poste'' (1495–1496), ''en poste'' “very fast” (Commynes, 1497–1498) and ''courir la poste'' (1522); ''maître de poste'' and ''chaise de poste'' belong to this system.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) The public carriage of letters began in the 17th century (''mettre à la poste'', 1625), and Molière (1655) uses ''poste'' for the post office itself, ''poste restante'' dates from 1793, Paris's ''petite poste'' from 1758.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré (1869) records the public administration, ''la Poste''.^(TLFi) The derivatives ''postal'' (1836) and ''postier'' (1841) followed.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1298 – ''Poste de chevaus'' in Marco Polo.^(TLFi)

+ * 1480 – Royal couriers and relays, under Louis XI.^(TLFi)

+ * 1522 – ''Courir la poste''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1625 – ''Mettre à la poste''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1655 – The post office, in Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1758 – Paris's ''petite poste''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1793 – ''Poste restante''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1836 – ''Postal''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|post]], mail, postal service: ''envoyer par la poste'', ''la Poste''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|post office]]: ''aller à la poste''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(history)'' A relay of post horses; the stage between relays: ''chevaux de poste''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Poste restante'': poste restante, general delivery.^(TLFi)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[postal]]

+ * [[postier]]

+ * [[poster]]

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+ {{homograph|2|post, position}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1636|origins=la pōnō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɔst/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''poste''' ''m'' (plural postes)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The masculine is [[bor|it|posto|t=place, position]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) the masculine past participle used as a noun of [[m|it|porre|t=to place]], Italian “posto” named about 1550 a place where a soldier or small unit is stationed.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It came into French about 1636 as a military term, the place assigned to a soldier or unit and the soldiers holding it.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Military uses include ''abandonner son poste'', ''poste de combat'' and ''avant-poste'' (1790–1799); ''poste de police'', ''de douane'' (1863) and ''de pompiers'' (1865) are guardrooms and their premises, and in hunting a ''poste'' is the place where the hunter waits (1798).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) From the 17th century (about 1663) it was the job assigned to someone, especially an official.^(DHLF 1992) The miners' shift was a ''poste'' (1812), and in book-keeping a ''poste'' is an item of an account (1812).^(DHLF 1992)

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+ From the end of the 19th century it named a set of apparatus, then a single device: ''poste téléphonique'' (1891), ''poste de TSF'' (1902), and ''le poste'' for the radio or television set.^(DHLF 1992) ''Solide au poste'' dates from 1799, and computing has ''poste de travail''.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1550 – Italian ''posto'' “military post”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1636 – ''Poste'' in French.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1663 – A job, office.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1798 – A hunter's post.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1799 – ''Solide au poste''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1812 – A miner's shift; an item of account.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1865 – ''Le poste'' “police station”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1891 – ''Poste téléphonique''.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|post]], job: ''un poste d'enseignant'', ''être à son poste''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # A military post; the soldiers manning it: ''poste avancé''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Poste de police'', ''le poste'': police station.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A station: ''poste de pilotage'', ''poste d'essence'', ''poste de travail'': workstation.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A set (radio, television): ''allumer le poste''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(telephone)'' An extension.^(Wiktionary)

+ # An item (in accounts, a budget).^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[poster]]

+ * [[avant-poste]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[poser]]

+ * [[pondre]]

+ * [[position]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ An older feminine ''poste'' “position”, from Old French ''pondre'' “to place”, survives in the nautical ''à poste'' “in place” (''mettre l'ancre à poste''), and in the obsolete ''à la poste de qqn'' “at someone's disposal” (Molière).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}