tête-bêche

[ tet-besh ]

adjectivePhilately.
  1. of or relating to a pair of stamps that have been printed with one stamp inverted.

Origin of tête-bêche

1
1880–85; <French, equivalent to tête head + bêche, reduced from béchevet placed with the head of one against the foot of the other

Words Nearby tête-bêche

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for tête-bêche

tête-bêche

/ (tɛtˈbɛʃ) /


adjective
  1. philately (of an unseparated pair of stamps) printed so that one is inverted in relation to the other

Origin of tête-bêche

1
C19: from French, from tête head + bêche, from obsolete béchevet double-headed (originally of a bed)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012