Post

How to spell post

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce post

What does post mean?

1. nounLetters, parcels, and other items delivered through an official delivery system.
2. verbTo send a letter or parcel through the mail system.
3. verbTo put a message, image, or update on a website or social media for others to see.
4. nounA vertical pole or stake fixed in the ground as a support or marker.
5. nounA job or official position to which someone is appointed.

Post in a sentence

• noun

  The morning post included two bills and a birthday card.

• verb

  Remember to post the contract before the office closes.

• verb

  She likes to post a photo from every holiday she takes.

• noun

  The gate hung from a sturdy oak post at the field entrance.

• noun

  After ten years she finally landed a senior management post.

• noun

  Heavy snow delayed the post across the whole region.

Where does post come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The spelling 'post' hides several different words that converged on the same four letters. The oldest sense, a wooden upright or stake, comes from the Latin 'postis', meaning a doorpost or pillar, and entered Old English very early in that concrete building sense. The sense of a fixed station or job traces to the Latin 'positum', the past participle of 'ponere' meaning 'to place', which reached English through Italian 'posto' and French 'poste' in the 1500s, since a soldier or official was literally 'placed' at a spot. The mail sense grew from the same Latin idea by way of French and Italian 'posta', because letters travelled along a chain of horses 'placed' at intervals along a road. From that came the verb to post a letter, and in modern times to post a message online, keeping the old notion of putting something out where others will see it. The prefix 'post-', meaning 'after' (as in postpone and postscript), is a separate Latin word entirely, which is why one short spelling carries such a wide spread of meanings.

How the word is built

• post (a single root with several distinct origins: a stake/pillar, a fixed station or duty, and a relay of mail carriers)