Phrase guide

poste restante

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A postal service in which a mail is held at a post office to be collected by the recipient

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a notation written on mail that is to be held at the post office until called for (not in the United States or Canada)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: note, annotation, notation

3

noun

Meaning 3

the part of a post office that handles mail for persons who call for it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: general delivery

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: unit, social unit

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French poste restante.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 存局候領 /存局候领 (cúnjúhòulǐng) — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Chinese Mandarin: 存局待領 /存局待领 (cúnjúdàilǐng) — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Chinese Mandarin: 留局候領 /留局候领 (liújúhòulǐng) — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Finnish: poste restante — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Finnish: noutoposti — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • French: poste restante — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • German: Postlagerservice — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Hungarian: postán maradó — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Italian: fermoposta — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Japanese: 局留め (kyokudome) — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Korean: 우체국 임치제 (ucheguk imchije) — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Portuguese: posta restante — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Russian: до востре́бования (do vostrébovanija) — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it
  • Swedish: poste restante — a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it