Lamppost

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tall, vertical installation that is often situated alongside roads, providing light for pedestrians and vehicles during the dark hours of the day
2. An upright fixture commonly seen in urban surroundings, designed to illuminate sidewalks and streets at night for improved visibility and safety
3. A pole that stands vertically in outdoor areas to hold a light for illuminating roads and walkways at night

Etymology: The lamppost is a compound of two words that took very different routes into English. "Lamp" came into Middle English from Old French "lampe", which had been borrowed from Late Latin "lampada", itself taken from the Greek "lampas", a torch, from the verb meaning "to shine" or "to flash." The Greek sense of light carried through to the lamp itself, while the lamp's older Latin and Greek ancestors were built around the idea of a torch rather than a fixed fixture. "Post" has an even longer line of descent. It traces back through Old French "poste" to Latin "postis," a doorpost or upright beam, which English had already borrowed in Old English as "post." So the two halves of the word join a Greek torch and a Latin doorpost, both upright or illuminating objects in their own right. The compound itself is plain: "lamp" plus "post," a post carrying a lamp. Its formation needed no special coinage, since the parts already described the thing.

Synonyms: streetlight, light pole, lamp