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Glite Dictionary
postillion

postillion

1 9.9
A person who rides the front horse to guide a carriage without a driver
  • noun
  • /pəˈstɪljən/
  • Archaic
: postillón
  • The postillion guided the horses carefully as they approached the village.

Examples

  • Revolutionary sensibilities particularly bristled when the head of state was transported in an elegant carriage pulled by six white horses with uniformed postillions and footmen.

    Blog text (22)

  • In the grand procession, a postillion rode proudly at the front of the carriage.

  • He was appointed as the postillion, responsible for managing the pair of horses during the journey.

Surface Forms

postillion singular
postillions plural

Etymology

Postillion comes from the same idea as post and postman, where 'post' means 'mail' or a relay route. A postillion was the rider who sat on the leading horse to guide mail and passenger carriages, so today it means a person who rides the front horse to steer a carriage.