Philately

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɪˈlæt.É™.li/

Origin

1865, from French philatélie, coined by French stamp collector Georges Herpin (in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-poste, Nov. 15, 1864) from Ancient Greek φιλο- (philo-, "love of") + ἀτέλεια, the closest word he could find in Ancient Greek to the concept of "postage stamp", from ἀ- (a-, "without") + τέλος (telos, "tax"). This word serves as a reminder of the original function of postage stamps, now often forgotten: the cost of letter-carrying formerly was paid by the recipient; stamps indicated it had been pre-paid by the sender, thus the letters were "carriage-free".

Full definition of philately

Noun

1. Stamp collecting.
2. The study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.

Related terms

• philatelic
• philatelics
• philatelist