different between speedy vs posthaste

English

Etymology

From Middle English spedy, spedi, from Old English sp?di? (“having good speed, lucky, prosperous; having means, wealthy, opulent, rich in material wealth; rich in, abounding in, abundant, plenteous, copious; powerful”), from Proto-Germanic *sp?digaz (“successful, hurried”), equivalent to speed +? -y. Cognate with Scots spedie (“speedy”), Dutch spoedig (“speedy, swift, rapid, quick”), German sputig, spudig (“industrious, speedy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?spi?di/
• Rhymes: -i?di

Adjective

speedy (comparative speedier, superlative speediest)

1. rapid; swift

Synonyms

• fast, swift, quick, rapid
• See also Thesaurus:speedy

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

speedy (third-person singular simple present speedies, present participle speedying, simple past and past participle speedied)

1. (transitive) to process in a faster than normal, accelerated way
   • 1647, {uncredited}, Journals of the House of Lords - Volume 10 - Page 389

     " […] the Treaty between the King and the Parliament may be speedied; and that Care may be taken, to prevent the casting of the Two Kingdoms into War and Blood."

   • 1871, The Mauritius Reports (page 46)

     […] for the purpose of proceeding to the immediate sale of the goods under seizure, with the view of speedying the exercise of their rights on the proceeds of the sale of the goods seized.

2. (transitive, Wiktionary and WMF jargon) to apply the speedy rule in an online community (often the deletion rule); speedy delete

   The guy is *not* so obviously insignificant that speedying him is appropriate.

Synonyms

• speed up
• speedy delete

English

Alternative forms

• post-haste, post haste

Etymology

From the former instruction on letters ‘haste, post, haste’, later reinterpreted as a compound of post +? haste.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??st?he?st/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?po?st?he?st/

Adverb

posthaste (not comparable)

1. quickly, as fast as someone travelling post; with great speed

   It is imperative that you finish your task posthaste.

   • 1946 — Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, Ch. 17

     "Sasi cannot last through the night." These words from his physician, and the spectacle of my friend, now reduced almost to a skeleton, sent me posthaste to Serampore.

Synonyms

• (quickly): ASAP, quickly
• See also Thesaurus:quickly

Noun

posthaste (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of post-haste
   • 1602 : Hamlet by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 1 l 103-106

     "And this, I take it,

     Is the main motive of our preparations

     The source of this our watch, and the chief head

     Of this post-haste and rummage in the land."