DefinitionsBeginners in the hobby of collecting stamps need to know the definitions of certain terms in use. The most common ones are explained here. These are stamps issued mainly for the everyday payment of postage. They often have less appealing designs than commemoratives and are usually smaller than the pictorial ones. Beginners will find that definitives far outnumber other types. The same design may be used for many years. The use of the same design over an extended period of time often leads to many unintended varieties. This makes them far more interesting to philatelists than commemoratives. 
Definition of Commemorative 
This is a limited run of stamp designed to commemorate a particular person, event or place. A commemorative is usually larger than a definitive, and more eye-catching in colour and design. The topics covered by commemorative stamps attract both beginners and experienced collectors. Above are some commemorative stamps. The Lunar New Year stamp of 2002 was the eye-catching red horse. The red triangular corners could be taken off to create an 8-sided stamp. The design of the pair marking the space walk taken by Edward White on June 3rd, 1965, during Gemini 4, is continuous from one to the other. Time limits on stamp validity Many countries limit the length of time a commemorative stamp is valid for postage, perhaps 6 months or a year. Canada has no limits, so you may find something issued 30 years ago being used today. 
Above is an example of older commemorative stamps used in 2003 (post mark is a bit hard to see, but it is 2003, trust me).
Even stamps of Newfoundland, issued when it was a British Colony, are valid postage in Canada, although that island became a province of Canada in 1949. 
Here's an example of that, used after the new postal rate went up in January 2005. The extra cent of postage was paid by the Newfoundland stamp #184. The commemorative stamp is the Calgary Transit Rail System from 2004, #2031. Definition of Perforations This term refers to the tiny holes around the edge of a stamp, which are used to divide the sheet into individual stamps. And now that many stamps are being issued in self-adhesive booklets or coils, several different shapes of serpentine die-cut perf lines are in use to separate stamps from each other or their background. The American Flag and the Maple Leaf stamps shown above have two different die cut perforations, and the Irish church stamp shows the edges of the holes that perforated the sheet. "Perfins" This is also a technical term for stamps that have additionally been perforated across the body with letters or monogram. In most cases, perfins were created on definitive stamps; rarely they may be found as commemorative versions. These modified stamps are usually purchased by large corporations to guard against theft by their employees. Also seen with “OHMS” perforated into government-use stamps in the years 1923 to 1949 in Canada, as per the sample below. 
A perforation gauge measures the number of holes in 2 cm. If all 4 sides have the same perf, it is referred to as (for example) ‘Perf 14’; for different perf’s, it is listed as ‘Perf 14 x 13 1/2', where the first number refers to the top & bottom edges, the second number to the sides. Perf sizes used to be divided only into half, but recently, perf fractions in 2 decimal places have been listed. Below are a few odd perforations. 
Definition of a Cancellation A cancellation is an ink mark across a stamp to prevent it from being used again. I have made a separate section about
cancellations
to illustrate some of them. Stamp hinges are small, folded, rectangular pieces of paper coated with a mild gum. They are used by stamp collectors to affix postage stamps onto the pages of a stamp album. The short end is moistened and affixed to the stamp; the long end is stuck to the page. The hinge keeps the stamp on the page while still allowing it to be lifted to examine the back (for instance to see the watermark or expert marks). For an image of a hinge, go to mounting stamps . The adhesive on hinges has 2 layers: the outer layer is moistened and sticks to the stamp and album page; the inner layer of adhesive fractures easily, allowing the hinge to be removed from the stamp with little damage. Definition of Gum Gum is the term used for the substance on the back of stamps to allow them to adhere to letters and packages. Water-activated gum (lick & stick) was the first type, but in more recent years, self-adhesive gum has become more prominent.
When soaking stamps off paper, the first type releases easily since it is water soluble (see my advice for beginners on soaking stamps off paper). The gum of self-adhesive stamps from some countries releases better than others (Canada’s works better than the USA’s much of the time). Definition of Tete-beche 
This term refers to the orientation of a pair of attached stamps, with one upside-down. My examples are:
Definition of Se-Tenant This term refers to two or more different stamps that are printed together on a sheet or in a booklet. If it is a pair, they may be staggered like a checker-board, so that there can be both horizontal and vertical pairs. 
A set might have 3 or more different stamps. The block of 4 above is from 2003, a set of Audubon sea birds. Some sets have 8 , and I imagine without too much trouble I could find 10 in a set. The triangular stamps above are se-tenant as well as tete-beche. Definition of Cinderellas Like the story, Cinderella stamps have no home, no background; they are poor relations. They may look like real stamps, but are not issued by an authorized Post Office of a country. Below are a few examples: 
The block of 4 above is from Nagaland, which is a state in India. They appear to be real stamps, with different postage rates on each. The cancellation seems to be one called "Cancelled to Order", with the date 30.12.72, and the 'country'. The next pair say Staffa, which is an island off Scotland, but these are almost identical to the Nagaland ones - same style of picture, same background and size. Even the same kind of poor perf's. And here's the clincher: the same style of cancellation, with the same date, at the same angle! 
Now these two look pretty good, but notice that there is no issuing country and no denomination. These were part of a set of 10 put out by Eaton's Fine Letter Papers for the World's Fair in 1939 in New York City. The entire set shows scenes of New York, and are beautifully done. Check the "Back of the Book" At the back of each country section in a stamp catalog you will find other items listed. Each has its own number system. The list below has letters and names; the letter and a number is the way the individual items are cataloged in the "BOB" section. Most of these contain their definition in the title.
And there are other item listed in the back of the book, with other letter designations; it's quite a section. Some countries have a lot of BOB stamps, others have hardly any. Definitions of some categories could be added to catalogs for beginners. Return from Definitions to Beginners
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