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

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.”