post
Definitions
The official mail system; letters and parcels delivered through it
邮政（系统）；邮件，信件
A piece of writing published online, e.g. on a blog or social media
（网上发布的）帖子，文章
A job or official position
职位，职务
An upright pole or stake fixed in the ground
柱子，桩
To send a letter or parcel through the mail
邮寄，投寄
To publish a message, image or article online
（在网上）发布，发帖
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Italian posta (a relay station), from Latin posita 'a thing placed' (ponere 'to place'). A posta was a station set down along a road where riders swapped horses; it named first the station, then the mail system that ran on it, then the act of sending a letter through it. The internet later borrowed the verb: to post online is to drop a message into the public network, just like dropping a letter into the postal one. (The 'job' and 'pole' senses are a separate Latin word, postis 'doorpost,' that happens to share the spelling.)
Root post still carries 10 more wordsWhy It Means This
One spelling, two unrelated stories. The mail post (Italian posta, from ponere 'to place') is the relay-station-turned-mail-system word — and the one the internet 'post' grew from. The job/pole post comes from Latin postis 'doorpost.' English merged them in spelling, so context tells you which is meant: post a letter / a blog post (mail line) vs a teaching post / a fence post (pole line).
Usage Guide
- BrE vs AmE: Britons say 'the post' and 'post a letter'; Americans usually say 'the mail' and 'mail a letter.' But 'post' for online publishing is universal.
- Online sense: post a photo / post on Instagram / a blog post — now the most common everyday use.
- 'post to / report to': in jobs, you are posted to a place; you don't 'post' a person.
- The pole/job senses don't take the mail collocations: a 'fence post' is never mailed.
Example Sentences
- 1.
Can you post this letter for me on your way to work?
- 2.
She posted a photo of the sunset on Instagram.
- 3.
His latest blog post got thousands of comments.
- 4.
She applied for a teaching post at the university.
- 5.
They tied the gate to a wooden post.