postage-stamp
Meaning
A small piece of gummed paper issued by a government for attachment to mail as evidence of payment of a fee.
Something very small in size or area.
Structure
Usage
He licked the postage-stamp and carefully placed it on the envelope.
The studio apartment was no bigger than a postage-stamp.
Collecting rare postage-stamps can be a valuable hobby.
Etymology
The compound noun 'postage-stamp' is a transparent combination of two English words, each with a distinct historical path. 'Postage' derives from the system of organized mail delivery, where a fee ('-age') is paid for the service of placing ('post') a letter into the system. 'Stamp' refers to the act of impressing a mark, evolving to mean the official seal or die itself. The term emerged in the mid-19th century following the postal reforms that introduced prepaid, adhesive labels. Literally, it is the "fee-mark" for mail, a small, gummed paper bearing an impressed design as proof of payment, with its meaning later extending metaphorically to describe anything of similarly diminutive scale.
Analysis
- postage: From English 'post' (a system for conveying letters) + the suffix '-age' (denoting a charge or fee). 'Post' originates from Latin 'ponere' (to place), via Italian 'posta' (a fixed station for horses on a mail route). - stamp: From Middle English 'stampen', meaning to pound or crush, of Germanic origin. In this context, it refers to an official mark or seal impressed on a surface.