Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of poŝtoficejo
Coloured illustration of poŝtoficejo
#2702 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

post office (the building)

Word origin

An Esperanto compound of poŝto, the post, and oficejo, an office. Poŝto comes through Italian posta from Latin posita, a station where relay horses were placed; oficejo is Latin officium plus the place suffix -ej-.

Origin
Esperanto, on Latin roots
Root
poŝto + oficejo
English cognates
post, office

Examples

.

I am going to the post office to send a letter.

.

The post office is closed today.

?

Did you buy the stamps at the post office?

Two words, one o. is poŝto plus oficejo, and the join eats a vowel. Esperanto compounds by putting the modifying root in front, usually bare: poŝt- plus . You may keep the linking -o- when it helps pronunciation, but here already begins with o, so is what everyone writes and poŝtooficejo is not. The compounding article works through when the vowel stays and when it goes.

Three roots deep, and all of them yours. Take the second half apart again and the pattern shows: - is a duty or a post in the sense of a job, -- is the place suffix that gave you , and o, so is the place where the duty is done. Then poŝt- names which duty. Nothing here needed a dictionary.

alone often does the job. In speech, is ordinary and means exactly the same errand, the way English says going to the post in some dialects and going to the post office in others. is the fuller, more official form: it is what appears on a sign, in an address, and in a timetable of opening hours.

Neighbouring vocabulary. A poŝtmarko is a postage stamp, a o the postman, a poŝtkesto the letter box, and a a postcard. All of them compound on the same first root, which is why learning was worth more than one word.

Where this fits

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Esperanto · Free printables

poŝtoficejo: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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This word is part of lesson 55.