Philately or Philotely

Most stamp collectors are perhaps familiar with the term philately.  Right at the start, when stamp collecting as a hobby was picking up, there were actually all sorts of terms used.  The term philately was actually invented by a French stamp collector named Herpin.  He used the term in a French magazine and the term stuck with the public and became the widely used term to describe stamp collecting.

The origin of this term comes from the Greek expression philo (I love) and atelos(exempt from tax).  There was actually some discussion and debate on whether the correct term used should have been philotely instead since the name for the hobby was composed of the Greek philo and teli (taxes) and its explanation would be 'love of taxes' or love of stamps used for payment of postage.  But by then, the widely accepted term was already being used all over the world so the term "philately" has remained ever since.