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You are here: Home / Language / What Does the Term “Post” Mean and Where Did the Word “Mail” Come From?

What Does the Term “Post” Mean and Where Did the Word “Mail” Come From?

July 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

In medieval Europe, a system of roads was built to speed messages from the heads of state to all corners of the realm.

These were called post roads because riders on horseback were “posted” at intervals in a relay system copied by the Pony Express to speed the delivery of the mail.

Mail is what they called the pouch that carried the letters.

Urgent messages were marked “post-haste.”

Related Facts

  • How does the mail processing center sort and distribute mail and What is an LSM?
  • How long did it take to get a letter from coast to coast by Pony Express in the American Old West?
  • Where does the word “post” (posthaste) come from and What does post mean in Latin?
  • Was There Mail Delivery in Ancient Times?
  • When Did Pigeons Carry the Mail?
  • When Did Mail Delivery Begin in the U.S.?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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