mailman

The word 'mailman' is a transparent compound formed from two English words. 'Mail' entered English from Old French 'male', meaning a traveling bag or wallet, which itself has Germanic origins. This term evolved to denote the contents carried in such a bag—the letters and packages—and then the postal system itself. 'Man', from Old English 'mann', is a common agentive suffix in English occupational terms. Thus, the literal logic of 'mailman' is directly preserved in its modern meaning: a person (man) who handles the mail.

Structure: mail (postal items) + man (person) - mail: From Old French 'male' (wallet, bag), referring to a bag for carrying letters. In this compound, it functions as the object or domain of work. - man: From Old English 'mann' (person, human being). In this compound, it functions as the agent performing the job.