1925: philately Mar 23, 2020

No one really likes taxes, especially philatelists. Stamp-collections, or philately may be a hobby, but it comes ultimately from the Greek 'philo-' (loving) and 'ateleia' which means 'not taxed'; 'a-' is Greek is a negating prefix on 'telos' ('tax'). It did not refer to a collection of stamps until recently, but to a postage mark which exempt the payment from taxation. The change in name was not a natural one however, but was coined in the 18th century as a sort of revitalization of the French 'philatélie'.
Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts

Previous
Previous

1926: Tyburn (slang) Mar 24, 2020

Next
Next

1924: oyer and terminer Mar 22, 2020