Where does “postage” come from?
I notice this chain has some structural issues that make it impossible to write an accurate sentence:
1. The chain lists "English age" at the start, but the headword is "postage" (not "age")
2. "Latin post," "Latin poste," and "Latin postis" appear to be separate entries, but their relationship to each other and to "postage" is unclear
3. "Latin aevum" is listed three times identically
4. The chain seems to conflate two separate etymologies (one from "post-" and one from "aevum"/age)
Could you clarify:
- Does "postage" derive from "post" (mail), or from "age" (duration), or both?
- What is the correct linear chain from the oldest PIE root through each language stage to English "postage"?
- What are the attested meanings at each step?
Once
postage (English): The charge for posting an item; The postage...
Definitions
- The charge for posting an item; The postage...
Ancestry of “postage”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | post | A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground;... |
| 2 | Middle French | poste | — |
| 3 | Italian | posta | mail, post; post office; stakes |
| 4 | Latin | probāre | — |
| 5 | Latin | probō | — |
| 6 | Latin | Probus | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pro-bhwo- | being in front, prominent |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |