Mail

[meyl] /meɪl/

noun
1.
letters, packages, etc., that are sent or delivered by means of the postal system:
Storms delayed delivery of the mail.
2.
a single collection of such letters, packages, etc., as sent or delivered:
to open one’s mail; to find a bill in the mail; The mail for England was put on the noon plane.
3.
Also, mails. the system, usually operated or supervised by the national government, for sending or delivering letters, packages, etc.; postal system:
to buy clothes by mail.
4.
a train, boat, etc., as a carrier of postal matter.
5.
electronic mail; email.
adjective
6.
of or relating to mail.
verb (used with object)
7.
to send by mail; place in a post office or for transmission.
8.
to transmit by email.
Idioms
9.
copy the mail, Citizens Band Radio Slang. to monitor or listen to a CB transmission.
[meyl] /meɪl/
noun
1.
flexible armor of interlinked rings.
2.
any flexible armor or covering, as one having a protective exterior of scales or small plates.
3.
Textiles. an oval piece of metal pierced with a hole through which the warp ends are threaded, serving as an eyelet on a heddle or especially on the harness cords of a Jacquard loom.
verb (used with object)
4.
to clothe or arm with mail.
[meyl] /meɪl/
noun, Scot.
1.
monetary payment or tribute, especially rent or tax.
/meɪl/
noun
1.
Also called (esp Brit) post. letters, packages, etc, that are transported and delivered by the post office
2.
the postal system
3.
a single collection or delivery of mail
4.
a train, ship, or aircraft that carries mail
5.
short for electronic mail
6.
(modifier) of, involving, or used to convey mail: a mail train
verb (transitive)
7.
(mainly US & Canadian) to send by mail Usual Brit word post
8.
to contact (a person) by electronic mail
9.
to send (a message, document, etc) by electronic mail
/meɪl/
noun
1.
a type of flexible armour consisting of riveted metal rings or links
2.
the hard protective shell of such animals as the turtle and lobster
verb
3.
(transitive) to clothe or arm with mail
/meɪl/
noun
1.
(archaic, mainly Scot) a monetary payment, esp of rent or taxes
/meɪl/
noun
1.
(Austral, informal) a rumour or report, esp a racing tip
n.

“post, letters,” c.1200, “a traveling bag,” from Old French male “wallet, bag, bundle,” from Frankish *malha or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *malho- (cf. Old High German malaha “wallet, bag,” Middle Dutch male “bag”), from PIE *molko- “skin, bag.” Sense extension to “letters and parcels” (18c.) is via “bag full of letter” (1650s) or “person or vehicle who carries postal matter” (1650s). In 19c. England, mail was letters going abroad, while home dispatches were post. Sense of “personal batch of letters” is from 1844, originally American English.

“metal ring armor,” c.1300, from Old French maille “link of mail, mesh of net,” from Latin macula “mesh in a net,” originally “spot, blemish,” on notion that the gaps in a net or mesh looked like spots.

“rent, payment,” from Old English mal (see blackmail (n.)).
v.

“send by post,” 1828, American English, from mail (n.1). Related: Mailed; mailing; mailable. Mailing list attested from 1876.

Related Terms

airmail, carry the mail, greenmail, junk mail

messaging
1. electronic mail.
2. The Berkeley Unix program for composing and reading electronic mail. It normally uses sendmail to handle delivery.
Unix manual page: mail(1)
(1997-12-03)