postcard

P3O1S1T1C3A1R1D2
US/ˈpoʊstˌkɑɹd/

noun

A rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically used for sending messages by mail without the need for an envelope.

“to postcard one's news”

Similar
post cardpostal cardmailing-card
OriginEnglish card ← Middle English carde ← Old French carte →
CommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounpostcard (plural postcards)

plural postcards · alternative post card · alternative post-card

  1. postalA rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically used for sending messages by mail without the need for an envelope.
verbpostcard (third-person singular simple present postcards, present participle postcarding, simple past and past participle postcarded)

present singular third person postcards · participle present postcarding · participle past postcarded · past postcarded · alternative post card · alternative post-card

  1. transitiveTo send a postcard to someone.

    to postcard one's friends

  2. transitiveTo send by means of a postcard.

    to postcard one's news

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna card for sending messages by post without an envelope

Similar
post cardpostal cardmailing-card
Broader
card

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂pó
  4. Proto-Italic*po
  5. Proto-Indo-European*teḱ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*tḱéytibf.
  7. Proto-Indo-European*tḱey-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*tḱinéti
  9. Proto-Italic*sinō
  10. Proto-Italic*pozinō
  11. Latinpōnō
  12. Latinposita
  13. Italianposta
  14. Middle Frenchposte
  15. Englishpost
  16. Ancient Greekχάρτης (khártēs)
  17. Latincharta
  18. Old Frenchcarte
  19. Middle Englishcarde
  20. Englishcard
  21. Englishpostcard

From post + card.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans briefkaart
  • briefkaartrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Arabic كَرْت بَرِيدِيّ
  • كَرْت بَرِيدِيّ (kart barīdiyy)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Bengali পোস্টকার্ড, পোষ্টকার্ড
  • পোস্টকার্ড (pōsṭokarḍo)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • পোষ্টকার্ড (pōśṭokarḍo)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Bulgarian по́щенска, по́щенска ка́ртичка
  • по́щенска (póštenska)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • по́щенска ка́ртичка (póštenska kártička)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Catalan targeta postal, postal
  • targeta postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Chinese Cantonese 明信片
  • 明信片rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Chinese Mandarin 明信片
  • 明信片 (míngxìnpiàn)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Czech pohlednice, pohled
  • pohlednicerectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • pohledrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Danish brevkort, postkort
  • brevkortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • postkortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Dutch ansichtkaart, kaart
  • ansichtkaartrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • kaartrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • postkaartrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Esperanto poŝtkarto, pošta karto
  • poŝtkartorectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • pošta kartorectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Estonian postkaart
  • postkaartrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Finnish postikortti, kirjekortti
  • postikorttirectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • kirjekorttirectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
French carte postale
  • carte postalerectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
German Postkarte
  • Postkarterectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Greek κάρτα, καρτ-ποστάλ
  • κάρτα (kárta)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • καρτ-ποστάλ (kart-postál)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Hebrew גְּלוּיָה
  • גְּלוּיָה (g'luyá)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Hindi पोस्टकार्ड
  • पोस्टकार्ड (posṭkārḍ)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Hungarian levelezőlap, képeslap
  • levelezőlaprectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • képeslaprectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Icelandic póstkort, kort
  • póstkortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • kortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • bréfspjaldrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Indonesian kartu pos
  • kartu posrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Irish cárta poist
  • cárta poistrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Italian cartolina
  • cartolinarectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Japanese 葉書, ポストカード
  • 葉書 (hagaki)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • ポストカード (posutokādo)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Korean 그림엽서, 엽서
  • 그림엽서 (geurimyeopseo)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • 엽서 (yeopseo)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Latvian pastkarte, atklātne
  • pastkarterectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • atklātnerectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Lithuanian atvirutė
  • atvirutėrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Malay poskad
  • poskadrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Norwegian brevkort
  • brevkortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Norwegian Bokmål postkort
  • postkortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Polish karta pocztowa, pocztówka
  • karta pocztowarectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • pocztówkarectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • widokówkarectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Portuguese cartão-postal, postal
  • cartão-postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Romanian carte poștală
  • carte poștalărectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Russian почто́вая откры́тка, откры́тка
  • почто́вая откры́тка (počtóvaja otkrýtka)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • откры́тка (otkrýtka)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Scottish Gaelic cairt-phuist
  • cairt-phuistrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Slovak pohľadnica
  • pohľadnicarectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Spanish tarjeta postal, postal
  • tarjeta postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Swahili postikadi, kadi ya posta
  • postikadirectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • kadi ya postarectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Swedish vykort, brevkort
  • vykortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • brevkortrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Tagalog tarheta-postal
  • tarheta-postalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Thai โปสต์การ์ด, ไปรษณียบัตร
  • โปสต์การ์ด (bpóot-gáat)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • ไปรษณียบัตร (bprai-sà-nii-yá-bàt)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Turkish kartpostal
  • kartpostalrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Ukrainian листі́вка, пошто́ва листі́вка
  • листі́вка (lystívka)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
  • пошто́ва листі́вка (poštóva lystívka)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Urdu پوسْٹ کارْڈ
  • پوسْٹ کارْڈ (posṭ kārḍ)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Vietnamese bưu thiếp
  • bưu thiếprectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Welsh cerdyn post
  • cerdyn postrectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Yiddish פּאָסטקאַרטל
  • פּאָסטקאַרטל (postkartl)rectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope
Zulu iliposikhadi
  • iliposikhadirectangular piece of thick paper to be mailed without an envelope

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

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Cite this entry
APA

postcard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postcard

MLA

“postcard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postcard. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “postcard,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postcard.

Source: postcard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.