postilion

[ poh-stil-yuh n, po- ]

/ poʊˈstɪl yən, pɒ- /

a person who rides the left horse of the leading or only pair of horses drawing a carriage.

Also especially British, pos·til·lion.

Origin of postilion

1580–90; earlier postillon < Middle French < Italian postiglione, derivative of posta post³

The postilion handed the lanterns up to the conductor, and he lighted them with some matches that he carried in his pocket.

Rollo in Geneva |Jacob Abbott
The road was good, but the postilion had hitched an extra trace-horse to the four-span.

The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories |Ivn Turgnieff
There was not a man of any kind with them except the postilion.

Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XXVI., December, 1880. |Various
The rat-trap contained two large rats; one of these she turned into a coachman, and the other into a postilion.

Cinderella |Anonymous

He paid the postilion who had brought them from Lancaster, and stood quiet until the carriage had driven off.

A Jacobite Exile |G. A. Henty

postilion

/ (pɒˈstɪljən) /

a person who rides the near horse of the leaders in order to guide a team of horses drawing a coach

C16: from French postillon, from Italian postiglione, from posta post ³