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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]
post &c, 16- postie &c, 17- - n, a letter carrier, orig a courier carrying mails, now a Post Office postman