philately
Americannoun
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the collecting of stamps and other postal matter as a hobby or an investment.
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the study of postage stamps, revenue stamps, stamped envelopes, postmarks, postal cards, covers, and similar material relating to postal or fiscal history.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of philately
First recorded in 1860–65; from French philatélie, from Greek phil- phil- + atéleia “freedom from charges” (taken to mean recipient's freedom from delivery charges by virtue of the stamp which sender affixed to the letter), literally, “want of taxation,” equivalent to a- a- 6 + tél(os) “tax” + -eia -y 3
Explanation
Philately is a fancy way to say "stamp collecting." If you want to get involved in philately, you can start by saving the stamps from your pen pal's letters. Philately comes from the French philatélie, which was coined by a 19th-century stamp collector using the Greek phil-, "loving," and atelēs, "free of taxes." This last part explains how a postage stamp works, exempting the recipient from paying taxes on the letter or package they receive. Your interest in philately might be casual, saving stamps from birthday cards — or more serious, collecting and trading valuable or historically interesting stamps.
Vocabulary lists containing philately
National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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Postage Stamp Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Biographer Harold Nicolson was more caustic, saying George was “a stupid old bore” whose personal life revolved around his twin obsessions of pheasant shooting and philately.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2022
Graham Shircore, chief executive of Stanley Gibbons, called it "the Holy Grail of philately".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2021
To anyone who knows anything about philately, the words “stamps of Bosnia and Herzegovina” need no further explanation.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019
Might Kim Jong-un be as susceptible to philately, and consider a re-run for Harry and Meghan?
From The Guardian ● Mar. 29, 2018
Jake’s mom shouted when he answered “A stamp” for the question “In philately, what is an Inverted Jenny?”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
