Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Mail

Mail

(māl)
,
Noun.
A spot.
[Obs.]

Mail

,
Noun.
[F.
maille
, OF. also
maaille
, LL.
medalia
. See
Medal
.]
1.
A small piece of money; especially, an English silver half-penny of the time of
Henry V.
[Obs.]
[Written also
maile
, and
maille
.]
2.
Rent; tribute.
[Obs., except in certain compounds and phrases, as blackmail, mails and duties, etc.]
Mail and duties
(Scots Law)
,
the rents of an estate, in whatever form paid.

Mail

(māl)
,
Noun.
[OE.
maile
,
maille
, F.
maille
a ring of mail, mesh, network, a coat of mail, fr. L.
macula
spot, a mesh of a net. Cf.
Macle
,
Macula
,
Mascle
.]
1.
A flexible fabric made of metal rings interlinked. It was used especially for defensive armor.
Chaucer.
Chain mail
,
Coat of mail
.
See under
Chain
, and
Coat
.
2.
Hence generally, armor, or any defensive covering.
3.
(Naut.)
A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
4.
(Zool.)
Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.
We . . . strip the lobster of his scarlet
mail
.
Gay.

Mail

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To arm with mail.
2.
To pinion.
[Obs.]

Mail

(māl)
,
Noun.
[OE.
male
bag, OF.
male
, F.
malle
bag, trunk, mail, OHG.
malaha
,
malha
, wallet; akin to D.
maal
,
male
; cf. Gael. & Ir.
mala
, Gr.
μολγόσ
hide, skin.]
1.
A bag; a wallet.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
The bag or bags with the letters, papers, or other matter contained therein, conveyed under public authority from one post office to another; the whole system of appliances used by government in the conveyance and delivery of mail matter.
There is a
mail
come in to-day, with letters dated Hague.
Tatler.
3.
That which comes in the mail; letters, etc., received through the post office.
4.
A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried.
[Obs.]
Sir W. Scott.
Mail catcher
,
an iron rod, or other contrivance, attached to a railroad car for catching a mail bag while the train is in motion.
–
Mail guard
,
an officer whose duty it is to guard the public mails.
[Eng.]
–
Mail train
,
a railroad train carrying the mail.

Mail

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mailed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mailing
.]
To deliver into the custody of the postoffice officials, or place in a government letter box, for transmission by mail; to post;
as, to
mail
a letter
.
[U. S.]
☞ In the United States to mail and to post are both in common use; as, to mail or post a letter. In England post is the commoner usage.

Webster 1828 Edition

Mail

MAIL

,
Noun.
[L.macula.]
1.
A coat of steel net-work, formerly worn for defending the body against swords, poniards, &c. The mail was of two sorts, chain and plate mail; the former consisting of iron rings, each having four others inserted into it; the latter consisting of a number of small lamins of metal, laid over one another like the scales of a fish, and sewed down to a strong linen or leathern jacket.
2.
Armor; that which defends the body.
We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail.
We read also of shirts of mail, and gloves of mail.
3.
In ships, a square machine composed of rings interwoven, like net-work, used for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
4.
A rent. Also, a spot.

MAIL

,
Noun.
A bag for the conveyance of letters and papers, particularly letters conveyed from one post office to another, under public authority.

MAIL

,
Verb.
T.
To put on a coat of mail or armor; to arm defensively.
1.
To inclose in a wrapper and direct to a post office. We say, letters were mailed for Philadelphia.

Definition 2024

Mail

Mail

See also: mail and màil

German

Noun

Mail f ‎(genitive Mail, plural Mails)

  1. (somewhat informal) Alternative form of E-Mail ‎(“e-mail”)
    Ich schreib dir ’ne Mail.
    I’ll send you an e-mail.

Declension

mail

mail

See also: Mail and màil

English

Noun

mail ‎(countable and uncountable, plural mails)

  1. (now regional) A bag or wallet. [from 13thc.]
    • 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:
      What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale; / A brydelynge caste for that is in thy male!
  2. A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.
  3. The material conveyed by the postal service. [from 17thc.]
    Don't forget to pick up the mail on your way.‎
  4. (dated) A stagecoach, train or ship that delivers such post.
  5. The postal service or system in general. [from 17thc.]
    He decided to send his declaration by mail.‎
  6. (chiefly US, uncountable) The letters, parcels etc delivered to a particular address or person. [from 19thc.]
  7. (uncountable) Electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages. [from 20thc.]
  8. A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

Usage notes

In the United States, mails (plural) can mean "the postal system".

Synonyms
  • (postal system): post (UK, Ireland, other dialects?)
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

mail ‎(third-person singular simple present mails, present participle mailing, simple past and past participle mailed)

  1. (transitive) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.
  2. (transitive) To send by electronic mail.
    Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.
    • 1983, "Donn Seeley", Source for 'Grab' (on newsgroup net.unix-wizards)
      There has been a crackdown on non-ARPA use of a local ARPA gateway, so I am reluctant to attempt to mail the file to ARPA sites.
    • 1998, "Michael Tomsett", Re: Multiple postings? (on newsgroup alt.music.manics)
      Since .mp3's are so big (well for me with a 33.6kp/s connection they are anyway) maybe you should offer on your site to mail the file to people who want it, and have them request it, thus saving your web space, your upload time and their download time […]
    • 2003, "Chrissy", Re: Send mail with attachment (on newsgroup microsoft.public.excel.programming)
      If you mail an attachment from one mail client then it does not matter if the receiver uses a different mail client. The mail you send should be able to be read from their mail client.
  3. (transitive) To contact (a person) by electronic mail.
    I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.
    • 2000, "Carlton Alton Deltree", Whoever did this sucks... (on newsgroup alt.comp.virus)
      I was horrified but my data was OK. Then, it saw it open my e-mail package and start to mail my friends. I turned the power off.
    • 2002, Jessica Mann, The voice from the grave, page 189:
      'Yes, at Quantico. She was so excited by it, she sent all those emails, you remember I told you about it -' 'Yes, she mailed me from there too.'
    • 2011, Rose Budworth-Levine, Intimate Encounters, page 41:
      He mailed me and said he had managed to hack into my email accounts.
Synonyms
  • (send through the mail): post
Derived terms
Translations
to send via the post

Etymology 2

From Middle English maille ‎(“mail armor”), a borrowing from Old French maille ‎(“loop, stich”), from Latin macula ‎(“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- ‎(“smear, rub”).

Alternative forms

Noun

Mail

mail ‎(uncountable)

  1. (uncountable) Armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.
  2. (nautical) A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
  3. Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Gay:
      We […] strip the lobster of his scarlet mail.
  4. (obsolete, rare) A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather.
    • 1653, Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler:
      the moorish-fly; made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake
Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

mail ‎(third-person singular simple present mails, present participle mailing, simple past and past participle mailed)

  1. (transitive) To arm with mail.
  2. (transitive) To pinion.

Etymology 3

Middle English mal, male from Old English māl ‎(“speech, contract, agreement”) from Old Norse mál ‎(“agreement, speech, lawsuit”). Akin to Old English mǣl ‎(“speech”).

Alternative forms

Noun

mail ‎(plural mails)

  1. (chiefly Scotland) A monetary payment or tribute.
  2. (chiefly Scotland) Rent.
  3. (chiefly Scotland) Tax.
Derived terms

Anagrams

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin milium.

Noun

mail m

  1. millet
  2. birdseed

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -eːl

Verb

mail

  1. first-person singular present indicative of mailen
  2. imperative of mailen

Fiji Hindi

Etymology

Borrowing from English mile ‎(“imperial measure of distance”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maɪl/

Noun

mail

  1. mile

References

French

Pronunciation

  • Etymology 1: IPA(key): /maj/
  • Etymology 2: IPA(key): /mɛjl/ or IPA(key): /mɛl/

Etymology 1

From Latin malleus ‎(“hammer”).

Noun

mail m ‎(plural mails)

  1. mallet
  2. (sports, historical) pall mall
  3. mall, promenade
  4. (Quebec) mall, shopping mall

Etymology 2

Borrowing from English email

Noun

mail m ‎(plural mails)

  1. email
Synonyms

Anagrams

German

Verb

mail

  1. Imperative singular of mailen.
  2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of mailen.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowing from English mail.

Noun

mail f ‎(invariable)

  1. email

Anagrams

Romansch

Alternative forms

  • (Sursilvan, Surmiran) meil
  • (Sutsilvan) mel

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *melum, from Latin mālum. Compare Friulian mêl, Romanian măr.

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

  1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader) apple

Synonyms

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmeil/

Noun

mail m ‎(plural mails)

  1. e-mail, email

Synonyms

Etymology

Abbreviation of E-Mail; the E- being redundant in German.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɛɪ̯l/, /meːl/
  • Homophone: Mehl (according to the latter pronunciation)

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