stamp
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /stæmp/
rhymes: -æmp
Forms: form: stamps
Etymology: From Middle English stampen (“to pound, crush”), from assumed Old English *stampian, variant of Old English stempan (“to crush, pound, pound in mortar, stamp”), from Proto-West Germanic *stampōn, *stampijan, from Proto-Germanic *stampōną, *stampijaną (“to trample, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *stemb- (“to trample down”).
Cognate with Dutch stampen (“to stamp, pitch”), German stampfen (“to stamp”), Danish stampe (“to stamp”), Swedish stampa (“to stomp”), Occitan estampar, Polish stąpać (“to step, treat”). See also stomp, step. Marks indicating that postage had been paid were originally made by stamping the item to be mailed; when affixed pieces of paper were introduced for this purpose, the term “stamp” was transferred to cover this new form.
Senses: examples: text: The horse gave two quick stamps and rose up on its hind legs.
text: Just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the Boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared.
ref: 1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
glosses: An act of stamping the foot, paw or hoof.
examples: text: My passport has quite a collection of stamps.
glosses: An indentation, imprint, or mark made by stamping.
examples: text: She loved to make designs with her collection of stamps.
text: Close to the register is a box of stamps adorned with logos of local business, including one for B cup cafe around the block.
ref: 2015 March 6, Jana Kasperkevic, “Stamp and ink shop lives on in New York City's East Village”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A device for imprinting designs.
examples: text: I need one first-class stamp to send this letter.
text: Now that commerce is done electronically, tax stamps are no longer issued here.
glosses: A small piece of paper, with a design and a face value, used to prepay postage or other dues such as tax or licence fees.
examples: text: These stamps have a Christmas theme.
glosses: A small piece of paper bearing a design on one side and adhesive on the other, used to decorate letters or craft work.
glosses: A tattoo.
glosses: A single dose of lysergic acid diethylamide.
glosses: A kind of heavy pestle, raised by water or steam power, for crushing ores.
examples: text: the stamp of criminality
text: It is trial and examination must give it price, and not any antique fashion; and though it be not yet current by the public stamp, yet it may, for all that, be as old as nature, and is certainly not the less genuine.
ref: 1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding:
text: At a short distance from her were a pair of bathers of a very different stamp, if their operations deserved the name of bathing at all, viz., two girls on the confines of womanhood, presenting strong contrast to each other […]
ref: 1863, Sporting Magazine, volume 42, page 290:
text: Now, the horses at that period were all of a sturdy stamp[…]
ref: 1902 February 28, “The Horse in South Africa”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 26, page 828:
glosses: Cast; form; character; distinguishing mark or sign; evidence.
Synonyms: sense: paper used to indicate payment has been paid
word: postage stamp
sense: paper used to indicate payment has been paid
word: revenue stamp
sense: paper used to indicate payment has been paid
word: tax stamp
Derived terms: word: book stamp
word: brick stamp
word: charity stamp
word: cinderella stamp
word: clinical stamp
word: duck stamp
word: fiscal stamp
word: food stamp
word: forever stamp
word: green stamp
word: health stamp
word: hot stamp
word: leave one's stamp
word: letter-stamp
word: meter stamp
word: mushroom stamp
word: postage due stamp
word: postage-due stamp
word: poster stamp
word: put one's stamp
word: railway stamp
word: ration stamp
word: ribbon stamp
word: rubber-stamp
word: rubber stamp
word: savings stamp
word: stamp act
word: stamp album
word: stamp and go
word: stamp art
word: stamp battery
word: stamp collecting
word: stamp collection
word: stamp collector
word: stamp coupling
word: stamp hinge
word: stamp mill
word: stamp note
word: stamp pad
word: stamp tax
sense: tattoo
word: tramp stamp
word: telegraph stamp
word: timestamp
word: time-stamp
word: time stamp
word: trading stamp
word: Zeppelin stamp