Etymology, Origin And Meaning Of Post-haste By Etymonline

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Origin and history of post-haste

post-haste(adv.)

"with urgent speed, with all possible haste," 1590s, from a noun (1530s) meaning "great speed," usually said to be from "post haste," an instruction formerly written on letters (attested from 1530s), from post (adv.) + haste (n.). The phrase originated in the old system of relaying messages by post horses (see post (n.3)); the verb post "to ride or travel with great speed" is recorded from 1550s.

also from 1590s

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haste(n.)

late 13c., "hurrying, haste; celerity, swiftness, speed;" c. 1300, "need for quick action, urgency;" from Old French haste "haste, urgency, hastiness" (12c., Modern French hâte), from Frankish *haifst "violence" or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *haifstiz (source also of Gothic haifsts "strife," Old English hæste "violent, vehement, impetuous"). From late 14c. as "undue haste, rashness, unwise or unseemly quickness." To make haste "act quickly" is recorded by 1530s.

post(adv.)

1540s, "with post horses," hence, "rapidly;" especially in the phrase to ride post "go rapidly," from post (n.3) "riders and horses posted at intervals."

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hurryMidlands sense of Middle English hurren "to vibrate rapidly, buzz" (of insects), from Proto-Germanic *hurza "to move with haste...To hurry up "make haste" is from 1890. Related: hurried; hurrying....precipitationprecipitation (15c.) and directly from Latin praecipitationem (nominative praecipitatio) "act or fact of falling headlong, haste...The meaning "sudden haste" is from c. 1500. The meaning "act of falling from a height" is attested from 1610s....accelerate" (implied in accelerating), from Latin acceleratus, past participle of accelerare "to hasten, quicken" (trans.), "make haste...stake"pointed stick or post; stick of wood sharpened at one end for driving into the ground, used as part of a fence, as a boundary-mark..., as a post to tether an animal to, or as a support for something (a vine, a tent, etc.)," Old English staca "pin, stake,...," Middle Low German stake "a stake, post, pillory, prison"), from PIE root *steg- (1) "pole, stick."...The specific meaning "post to which a condemned person is bound for death by burning" is from c. 1200, also "post to which...mail"post, letters," c. 1200, "a traveling bag, sack for keeping small articles of personal property," a sense now obsolete,...From thence, to "letters and parcels" generally (1680s) and "the system of transmission by public post" (1690s)....England, mail was letters going abroad, while home dispatches were post....pillarPhrase pillar to post "from one thing to another without apparent or definite purpose" is attested from c. 1600, late 15c.... as post to pillar, mid-15c. as pillar and post; but the exact meaning is obscure....Earliest references seem to allude to tennis, but post and pillar is recorded as the name of a game of some sort c. 1450....scourMiddle English also had it as a noun, as in the expression in good scour "quickly, with all haste" (c. 1300)....epic1580s, "pertaining to or constituting a lengthy heroic poem," via French épique or directly from Latin epicus, from Greek epikos, from epos "a word; a tale, story; promise, prophecy, proverb; poetry in heroic verse" (from PIE root *wekw- "to speak"). Extended sense of "grand, herCaucasian1807, of or pertaining to the Caucasus Mountains (q.v.), with -ian. Applied to the "white" race 1795 (in Latin) by German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840), who in his pioneering treatise on anthropology distinguished mankind into five races: Mongolian, Ethiodelightc. 1200, delit, "high degree of pleasure or satisfaction," also "that which gives great pleasure," from Old French delit "pleasure, delight, sexual desire," from delitier "please greatly, charm," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please," frequentative of delicere

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-hasteCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-haste">Etymology of post-haste by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of post-haste. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved February 9, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-hasteCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of post-haste," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed February 9, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-haste.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of post-haste." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-haste. Accessed 9 February, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of post-haste." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/post-haste (accessed February 9, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near post-haste

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