philately

Where it comes from

First use appears c. 1865. Borrowed from French philatélie, coined by French stamp collector Georges Herpin in 1864 (in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-poste, Nov. 15, 1864), from Ancient Greek φιλέω (philéō, “I love”) + ἀτέλεια (atéleia), the closest word he could find in Ancient Greek to the concept of "postage stamp", from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + τέλος (télos, “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 prepaid by the sender, and thus the letters were "carriage-free".