Franking is printing postage directly onto an envelope. A franking machine, franking the post, franked mail.
An office does it in bulk instead of sticking stamps on, and it costs less per item, which is why any business sending real volumes uses a franking machine. The word comes from an old right to send letters free, and franking marks began as that mark.
1nounfrankingPrinting postage directly onto an envelope.
“Leave the letters in the post room, and they'll go through franking before the afternoon collection.”
franking is a postal method.
Proto-West Germanic
*frankō — javelin, spear
Old French
franc — free
Middle English
frank
English
frank
English, today
franking
frank comes from Middle English frank, from Old French franc (“free”), in turn from the name of an early gem - confederation, the Frank, from Proto-West Germanic frankō (“javelin, spear”). a doublet of Frank and franc and farang.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA