Postilion
//pəˈstɪljən// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A rider mounted on the near (left) leading horse who guides the team pulling a carriage.
"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."
- 2 someone who rides the near horse of a pair in order to guide the horses pulling a carriage (especially a carriage without a coachman) wordnet
- 3 A post-boy, a messenger boy, a swift letter carrier. obsolete
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From Middle French postillon, and its likely source, Italian postiglione (“guide for driver of post-coach”), from posta (“post”).
Related phrases
More for "postilion"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.