切手
Meaning in Englishstamp, postage stamp
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
What does 切手 mean? It refers to a postage stamp used to pay for postal services. It is a small adhesive label issued by postal authorities that is affixed to mail to indicate payment of postage.
Main meanings
- Primary meaning is a postage stamp used on mail.
- In philatelic contexts it refers to stamps as collectibles and to stamp collecting discussions.
How to use it
Used on letters and parcels to show postage payment; formal and casual contexts alike; in catalogs and postal forms; in everyday conversation when referring to stamps.
Variants and close terms
- 郵便切手 yuubin kitte — standard postage stamps
- 記念切手 kinen kitte — commemorative stamps
- 普通切手 futsuu kitte — regular stamps
Composition
- 切 to cut; indicates a notion of a small, separable piece
- 手 hand; in compounds the second element often scopes the unit as a token or item
- the two together form a conventional term referring to a small paper piece affixed to mail to indicate postage payment
Etymology
切 means cut, 手 means hand; the compound kitte is a fixed reading in modern Japanese, illustrating how kanji compounds yield a pronunciation not obvious from the individual characters.
Origin
Meiji era late 19th century introduction of postage stamps as Japan modernized its postal system; stamps began circulating as official postal items.
Word class
noun (名詞)