Meanings
plural philatelies
- countableuncountableStamp collecting.
- countableuncountableThe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe collection and study of postage stamps
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchphilatélie
- Englishphilately
First use appears c. 1865. Borrowed from French philatélie, coined by French stamp collector Georges Herpin in 1864 (in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-poste, Nov. 15, 1864), from Ancient Greek φιλέω (philéō, “I love”) + ἀτέλεια (atéleia), the closest word he could find in Ancient Greek to the concept of "postage stamp", from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + τέλος (télos, “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 prepaid by the sender, and thus the letters were "carriage-free".
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian филателия, филателия
- филателия (filatelija)stamp collecting
- филателия (filatelija)the study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Catalan filatèlia
- filatèliastamp collecting
Chinese Mandarin 集郵 /集邮, 郵票研究 /邮票研究
- 集郵 /集邮 (jíyóu)stamp collecting
- 郵票研究 /邮票研究 (yóupiào yánjiū)the study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Czech filatelie
- filateliestamp collecting
Danish filateli, frimærkesamling
- filatelistamp collecting
- frimærkesamlingstamp collecting
- filatelithe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Dutch filatelie
- filateliestamp collecting
Estonian filateelia
- filateeliastamp collecting
Finnish filatelia, postimerkkeily
- filateliastamp collecting
- postimerkkeilystamp collecting
- postimerkkien keräilystamp collecting
- filateliathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
French philatélie, collection de timbres
- philatéliestamp collecting
- collection de timbresstamp collecting
- philatéliethe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
German Philatelie, Briefmarkenkunde
- Philateliestamp collecting
- Briefmarkenkundestamp collecting
- Philateliethe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Hungarian bélyeggyűjtés, filatélia
- bélyeggyűjtésstamp collecting
- filatéliathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
- bélyegtudománythe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Icelandic frímerkjasöfnun
- frímerkjasöfnunstamp collecting
Italian filatelia, filatelia
- filateliastamp collecting
- filateliathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Japanese 切手収集
- 切手収集 (kitteshūshū)stamp collecting
Latvian filatelija, filatelija
- filatelijastamp collecting
- filatelijathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Norwegian Bokmål frimerkesamling, filateli
- frimerkesamlingstamp collecting
- filatelithe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Polish filatelistyka, filatelistyka
- filatelistykastamp collecting
- filatelistykathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Portuguese filatelia, filatelia
- filateliastamp collecting
- filateliathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Russian филатели́я, коллекциони́рование ма́рок
- филатели́я (filatɛlíja)stamp collecting
- коллекциони́рование ма́рок (kollekcionírovanije márok)stamp collecting
- филатели́я (filatɛlíja)the study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Spanish filatelia, filatelia
- filateliastamp collecting
- filateliathe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Swedish filateli, frimärkssamlande
- filatelistamp collecting
- frimärkssamlandestamp collecting
- frimärkssamlingstamp collecting
- filatelithe study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Turkish filateli, pulculuk
- filatelistamp collecting
- pulculukstamp collecting
Ukrainian філателі́я, філателі́я
- філателі́я (filatelíja)stamp collecting
- філателі́я (filatelíja)the study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history, etc.
Cite this entry
philately. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/philately
“philately.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/philately. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “philately,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/philately.
Source: philately on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.