postilion
/pɒˈstɪlɪən/
"postilion" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“postilion” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A rider mounted on the near (left) leading horse who guides the team pulling a carriage.
Corpus desk
Index EN-postilion · postilion · English
postilion · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | postilion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɒˈstɪlɪən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “postilion” in English
Rare enough to double-check
postilion is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɒˈstɪlɪən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for postilion, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French postillon, and its likely source, Italian postiglione (“guide for driver of post-coach”), from posta (“post”). The correct English form is postilion, spelled P-O-S-T-I-L-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A rider mounted on the near (left) leading horse who guides the team pulling a carriage.
- 2A post-boy, a messenger boy, a swift letter carrier.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how postilion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
C’est un garcon de bonne fortune, said the landlord, pointing through the window to half a dozen wenches who had got round about La Fleur, and were most kindly taking their leave of him, as the postilion was leading out the horses.
The postilion seized one of his fat horses by the tail, and swung himself up to his seat again.
Etymology
From Middle French postillon, and its likely source, Italian postiglione (“guide for driver of post-coach”), from posta (“post”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.