French word

facteur

Pronunciation

IPA/faktœʁ/

Meaning

  • masculine nounmail carrier

Example

Le facteur a sonné à la porte.

The mail carrier rang the doorbell.

Illustration for facteur (mail carrier)

More examples

J'ai attendu le facteur devant la porte.

I waited for the mail carrier in front of the door.

Core concept

A mail carrier moving along a regular route with letters and parcels in a bag.

Common phrases

  • attendre le facteur

    wait for the mail carrier

  • la tournée du facteur

    the mail carrier's delivery route

  • un avis de passage du facteur

    a missed-delivery notice from the mail carrier

Similar words

postier: A postal worker who sorts and delivers mail as part of a post office job.
livreur: A delivery worker who brings online orders or store packages to their destinations.
coursier: A courier who rapidly transports urgent documents or packages.

Definition in French

Personne employée par la poste qui, dans sa tournée, distribue le courrier et les colis aux destinataires.

Word origin

Facteur comes from Latin factor, meaning 'doer' or 'maker', formed from facere, 'to do', and French extended this agent noun to the postal occupation.

Usage tips

  • The feminine form is factrice, so the postal worker is un facteur but une factrice.

Other meanings

  • factornoun

Word lists with this word