post-runnern.
/ˈpəʊs(t)ˌrʌnə/, U.S. /ˈpoʊs(t)ˌrənər/ In early use: †a person travelling express, on foot or horseback, with messages, letters, etc.; a courier, messenger (obsolete). Later: a person who carries the post or mail on foot along a particular route.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > postal services > person or vehicle that carries letters or mail > [noun] > person > specific on foot
foot post1578
post-runner1596
penny foot-posta1625
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. x. 403 Thir postrinneris [L. internuncium] beginis to contemne the command.
1828 N. Amer. Rev. July 111 He is a Boisbrulé by birth, and a post-runner by occupation.
1879 R. L. Stevenson Trav. with Donkey 39 A cavalcade of stride-legged ladies and a pair of post-runners.
1938 Geogr. Jrnl. 91 503 Post-runners carry the mails to Gangtok... Running from dawn to dusk in relays of about 8 miles they covered the 330 miles from Lhasa to Gangtok in from eight to ten days.
1982 J. Mackay Guinness Bk. Stamps 25 The foot-post, post-runner..or postman is literally the foot soldier of the world's postal services.
1999 Stamp Mag. Dec. 93/1 In the centre Reuter's Telegraph Service appeared in three lines, above the names of two places served by the post-runners.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1596