Mail carrier

"Mailman" and "Postman" redirect here. For other uses, see Mailman (disambiguation) and Postman (disambiguation).

19th-century English postman

A mail carrier, also referred to as a mailman, mailwoman, mailperson, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, postperson, person of post,[1] letter carrier (in American English), or colloquially postie (in Australia,[2] Canada,[3] New Zealand,[4] and the United Kingdom[5]), is an employee of a post office or postal service who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses. The term "mail carrier" came to be used as a gender-neutral substitute for "mailman" soon after women began performing the job. In the Royal Mail, the official name changed from "letter carrier" to "postman" in 1883,[6] and "postwoman" has also been used for many years.[7]

  1. ^ "Can you deliver the goods?". Royal Mail. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Keeping Our Posties Safe". Australia Post. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Nelson: More big cheques will soon be in posties' mail". Calgary Herald. 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Postie". New Zealand Post. 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  5. ^ Robinson, Mairi, ed. (1987). The Concise Scots Dictionary (1987 ed.). Aberdeen University Press. p. 511. ISBN 0-08-028492-2. post &c, 16- postie &c, 17- - n, a letter carrier, orig a courier carrying mails, now a Post Office postman
  6. ^ "What did your relatives do?". London: British Postal Museum & Archive. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  7. ^ "Post Office". The Strand Magazine. 14. London: George Newnes: 221. 1897. Retrieved 6 December 2020.