pigeongramn.
/ˈpɪdʒ(ᵻ)nɡram/, U.S. /ˈpɪdʒ(ə)nˌɡræm/ A message delivered by homing pigeon.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > letters, etc., by method of dispatch or conveyance
post-letter1648
ship-letterc1675
by-letter1685
penny-post letter1686
way letter1710
by-night1766
cross-letter1789
twopenny1818
box letter1827
non-paid1829
balloon-letter1870
pigeongram1875
railway letter1891
pneumatogram1894
airmail1918
aerogram1919
airgram1919
air letter1920
pneumatique1924
pneu1926
snail mail1929
aerogramme1934
airgraph1941
1875 Thames (N.Z.) Advertiser 4 Mar. 3/4 My mate..had just ridden in from the Karangahake ridge and writing a ‘pigeongram’ (what a word!) from his dictation, I threw up one of my birds, and had the pleasure of seeing it go off like a dart.
1902 N.Y. Tribune 2 June 6/5 The rate for pigeongrams is one shilling.
1991 N.Z. Geogr. Jan.–Mar. 115 On one well-publicised occasion a bird was despatched with a pigeongram to Auckland at 8am and a reply received at 9.15 the same morning.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1875