 Herpin stated that stamps had been collected and studied for the previous six or seven years and a better name was required for the new hobby than "timbromanie" (roughly "stamp quest"), which was disliked.The alternative terms "timbromania", "timbrophily" and "timbrology" gradually fell out of use as "philately" gained acceptance during the 1860s.He took the Greek root word φιλ(ο)- "phil(o)-", meaning "an attraction or affinity for something", and ἀτέλεια "ateleia", meaning "exempt from duties and taxes" to form "philatelie".