lamppost

See also: lamp-post

English

A lamppost

Alternative forms

• lamp post

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek λᾰ́μπω (lắmpō)

Ancient Greek -άζω (-ázō)

Ancient Greek -ᾰ́ς (-ắs)

Ancient Greek λᾰμπᾰ́ς (lămpắs)

Byzantine Greek λαμπάδα (lampáda)bor.

Late Latin lampada

Old French lampebor.

Middle English laumpe

English lamp

English post

English lamppost

From lamp + post.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊst

Noun

lamppost (plural lampposts)

1. The pole that holds up a light so it can illuminate a wide area, such as holds up a streetlight.

   Synonym: lightpost

   • 2017 June 14, Mark Carnall, “The ancient mystery of St Hilda's 'snake stones': what do ammonites really look like?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Visit the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in the UK, and ammonite road signs greet you at every town and city and even the lampposts on the seafront feature a familiar coiled shell.

   • 2023 January 25, Tom Allett, “Sleaford restored to its 'true' identity”, in RAIL, number 975, page 51:

     "What is really good is they haven't just painted the station building, they've done all the lampposts to match as well, right down to the end of the platform.

2. (informal, humorous) A tall, thin person.

   Synonyms: beanpole, long ghost

   • 1985, Vladimir Kornilov, Girls to the Front, page 4:

     You big skinny lamppost. And you're going grey!

Translations

pole that holds up a light

• Arabic: عَمُود مِصْبَاح m (ʕamūd miṣbāḥ), عَمُود إِنَارَة m (ʕamūd ʔināra)

  Moroccan Arabic: ركيزة (rkīza)

• Armenian: լապտերասյուն (hy) (lapterasyun)
• Belarusian: ліхта́рны слуп m (lixtárny slup)
• Bulgarian: лампио́н m (lampión)
• Catalan: farola f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 燈柱 / 灯柱 (zh) (dēngzhù), 街燈柱 / 街灯柱 (jiēdēng zhù), 路燈桿 / 路灯杆 (lùdēnggān), 路燈柱 / 路灯柱 (lùdēngzhù)

• Czech: kandelábr (cs) m, sloup pouličního osvětlení m
• Danish: lygtepæl c, gadelygte (da) c
• Dutch: lantaarnpaal (nl) m
• Esperanto: stratlanterno, lanternfosto (eo)
• Estonian: tänavapost
• Finnish: lyhtypylväs (fi)
• French: réverbère (fr) m, lampadaire (fr) m
• Georgian: საფანრე ბოძი (sapanre boʒi)
• German: Laternenpfahl (de) m
• Greek: φανοστάτης (el) m (fanostátis)
• Hungarian: lámpaoszlop (hu)
• Irish: cuaille lampa m, cuaille solais m
• Italian: lampione (it) m
• Japanese: 街灯 (ja) (がいとう, gaitō)
• Korean: 가로등(街路燈) (ko) (garodeung)
• Latvian: apgaismes stabs m
• Lithuanian: žibinto stulpas m
• Māori: pou rama
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lyktestolpe m

• Polish: słup latarni m
• Portuguese: poste de luz m, combustor m, poste (pt) m
• Romanian: stâlp de felinar m
• Russian: фона́рь (ru) m (fonárʹ), фона́рный столб m (fonárnyj stolb)
• Slovak: kandeláber m, stĺp pouličného osvetlenia m
• Slovene: kandelaber m
• Spanish: farola (es) f, farol (es) m, poste de luz m, poste lumínico m
• Swedish: lyktstolpe (sv) c
• Thai: เสาโคม (sǎo-koom)
• Ukrainian: ліхта́р m (lixtár), ліхта́рний стовп m (lixtárnyj stovp)
• Vietnamese: cột đèn
• Welsh: polyn lamp m

References

• (tall person): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary (as "lamp-post")

Anagrams

• stop lamp, palmtops