Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The collection and study of postage stamps, postmarks, and related materials; stamp collecting.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The fancy for collecting and classifying postage-stamps and revenue-stamps as objects of curiosity; also, the occupation of making such collections.
Wiktionary
- n. Stamp collecting.
- n. The study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The collection of postage stamps of various issues.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the collection and study of postage stamps
Etymologies
- 1865, from French philatélie, coined by French stamp collector Georges Herpin (in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-poste, Nov. 15, 1864) from Ancient Greek φιλο- (philo-, "love of") + ἀτέλεια (atelīa), the closest word he could find in Ancient Greek to the concept of "postage stamp" (from ἀ- (a-, "without") + τέλος (telos, "tax")). This word serves as a reminder of the original function of postage stamps, now often forgotten: the cost of letter-carrying formerly was paid by the recipient; stamps indicated it had been pre-paid by the sender, thus the letters were "carriage-free". (Wiktionary)
- French philatélie : Greek phil-, philo-, philo- + Greek ateleia, exemption from payment (because a postage stamp indicates prepayment of postage) (a-, without; see a-1 + telos, tax, charge; see telə- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This fascination with stamps and the history that surrounds them has led to a hobby related to philately, which is collecting stamps.”
“I speak of stamp collecting, more properly known as philately, and it was the American Philatelic Society (APS) that took over a fair amount of space in the Greater Richmond Convention Center and adjacent Richmond Marriott hotel in mid-August to promote the hobby's message.”
“The group, formed in 1957, consists of 11 members in fields ranging from sports and design to sociology and "philately," or the study of stamps.”
The Wall Street Journal: Snail Mail: It Takes Awhile to Get This Stamp of Approval
“The Postal Service vice president said the characters were chosen to encourage younger generations to take an interest in philately.”
“French is justly proud that the opening line of his essay on British cinema and the Post Office – "I don't know much about philately, but I know what I lick" – made it into the Penguin Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Quotations, but his prose is too positivist for the flourish of rhetoric.”
The Guardian: I Found it at the Movies: Reflections of a Cinephile by Philip French – review
“It was about stamps and philately, which he loved, but also about Simon Garfield.”
“Edward Howland Robinson Green was no stranger to numismatics or philately.”
CLASSIC RARITIES: Adams-Carter 1804 Class III Silver Dollar : Coin Collecting News
“These were his most topical and politically/socially-oriented tunes, tamer but still relevant and amusing today, and covering everything from pornography in "Smut" Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately?”
The Huffington Post: Spencer Green: The Enduring Satiric Genius of Tom Lehrer
“The final section of each book has a short story, the two by Rayner being decidedly ordinary (the one in the Rose book is tediously educational on philately), but the two by Cole much better - his story at the end of the Sycorax book retells The Christmas Invasion from the monster's point of view, which is a welcome shift of perspective and carried off smoothly.”
“Think I will philander or more seriously take up philately.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘philately’.
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phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
pabouche, pabulous, pabulum, pacable, pace, pachydermia, pachyglossal, pachymeter, pachynsis, paciferous, pacificate, pactolian and 1766 more...
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250 Spelling Words
A selected sampling of words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
orecchiette, rhabdomancy, guayabera, orthoepy, opisthenar, maguey, proem, ciabatta, cioppino, banns, concinnity, asthenia and 237 more...
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collectors and collections
Names for collectors, collections, etc.
petroliana, paranumismatica, exonumia, Disneyana, militaria, railwayana, tobacciana, memorabilia, peridromophily, peridromophile, scripophily, philately and 5 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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G...R...E
gross.
sybarite, restiveness, churl, nepotism, jingoism, pusillanimous, gaffe, incisive, enervate, bucolic, concomitant, abeyance and 158 more...
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juv3nal's Words
ligature, hermeneutic, caduceus, prelapsarian, apophenia, pataphor, lipogram, epinephrine, ludic, samizdat, oulipo, oulipopo and 194 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Why We Curse: WTF?
This list collects the magnificent collection of vocabulary of the article "What the F***? Why We Curse," by Steven Pinker, in The New Republic (Oct. 2007). I think I'm more impressed with the coll...
curse, language, earthy, ancient, unthinkable, thinkable, emotional, rhyme, meter, alliteration, pleasure, metaphor and 196 more...
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Niels's Words
bien-pensant, pro re nata, zeitgeist, naïve, quod erat demonst..., dramastic, mélange, amanuensis, heuristic, hermeneutic, gist, gumption and 157 more...
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Infinite Jest
Words taken from Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
prorector, monograph, post-fourier, snuffle, rototremble, creatus, enfilade, subanimalistic, balletic, espadrilles, leonine, cirri and 1153 more...
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Nabokov vocabulary
verisimilitude, geminate, pedantic, intervestibular, equilibrist, nictitating, anastomosis, quiddity, torus, cacahuete, undulation, pensum and 135 more...
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supplementary
for enhancement of any English test
consanguineous, worldly, naiveté, enshroud, pernicious, prerogative, traitor, fledgling, vengeance, provision, furnish, quarrel and 94 more...
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Greek Spelling Bee List
need to know these words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lethargy, biopsy, enthusiasm, odyssey, synonym, calypso, character, eclectic, chronology, cosmetic, cynical, hypothesis and 128 more...
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wackyvorlon's list
herein, execrable, extirpate, ameliorate, sawbuck, obstreperous, truculent, festinate, exiguous, exsanguinate, vehement, vex and 135 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, P
pellucid, pertain, pampas, prate, pinecone, philistine, pantocrator, papaverine, postmeridian, potlatch, pharology, pinniped and 622 more...
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[GRE] 10 Apr 2013
despondency, fruition, elation, wholesome, waffle, rail, grieve, mince, candor, staunch, bicker, weary and 104 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for philately.
frogapplause Have I told you philately that I love you? Oct 12, 2011
oroboros Soup to Nutz Mar 28, 2010
strev Pterodactyl– good thing she didn't say, "philate will get you nowhere" Jun 22, 2009
sionnach See Collyer. Oct 26, 2008
pterodactyl SonofGroucho is absolutely right. And therein lies a joke...
This geeky guy sees a beautiful woman at a bar, so he walks over and tries to chat her up. "Hey, baby, wanna come back to my place and look at my stamp collection?"
She raises an eyebrow and says "Philately will get you nowhere." Mar 16, 2008
bilby I collect phrases too. Dec 12, 2007
reesetee Interesting question, SoG. I wouldn't call myself one, and yet I sometimes feel as though I'm likely to stuffocate from all my junk. ;-) Dec 12, 2007
sonofgroucho I wonder how many Wordies are or were collectors of other things? Dec 12, 2007
uselessness On the contrary, you'll have enough postage to ship yourself anywhere! Sep 17, 2007
sonofgroucho This will get you nowhere. Sep 15, 2007