English
email
Etymology 1

The noun is an abbreviation of electronic mail. The verb is derived from the noun, by analogy with mail.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈiːmeɪl/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈiˌmeɪl/
Noun

email (computing)

  1. (uncountable) A system for transferring messages from one computer to another, usually through a network.
    Synonyms: mail
    Antonyms: mail, post#Noun, snail mail
    He sent me his details via email.
    The advent of email has simultaneously brought our society closer together and farther apart.
    Please stop sending me “constructive criticisms” via email, or telling me that “ I feel you are being defensive”, especially just after I have told you “you’re loved”. “Rewards” like that are horrible.
  2. (uncountable) A quantity of messages sent through an email system.
    Synonyms: mail
    Antonyms: mail, post#Noun, snail mail
    I am searching through my old email.
    My inbox used to allow only 50 MB of email at a time until last year, when they upgraded it to 2 GBs!
  3. (countable) A message sent through an email system.
    Synonyms: mail
    Antonyms: mailpiece#Noun
    He sent me an email last week to remind me about the meeting.
    I archive my old emails using a cloud-based service.
  4. (countable, informal) An email address.
    What’s your email?
    In this system, your username is your email.
    Don’t send personal messages to my work email.
Translations Translations Translations
  • French: adresse courriel
  • German: E-Mail-Adresse
  • Italian: indirizzo di posta elettronica, indirizzo e-mail
  • Portuguese: e-mail, endereço eletrónico (Portugal), endereço eletrônico (Brazil)
  • Spanish: dirección de correo electrónico
Verb

email (emails, present participle emailing; simple past and past participle emailed)

  1. (transitive) To send an email or emails to.
    She emailed me last week, asking about the status of the project.
  2. (transitive, ditransitive) To send (something) through email.
    I’ll email you the link.
    He emailed the file out to everyone.
  3. (intransitive) To send, or compose and send, an email or emails.
    Most teenagers seem to spend almost the whole day emailing and surfing the Web.
Translations
  • French: envoyer un courriel, courrieller, e-mailer (anglicism, informal)
  • German: mailen
  • Portuguese: mandar/enviar (um) e-mail (para)
  • Spanish: enviar un correo electrónico, mensajear
Translations
  • French: envoyer par courriel, courrieller
  • German: mailen
  • Italian: inviare via e-mail/mail, inviare per e-mail/mail
  • Portuguese: mandar por email
  • Spanish: enviar a través del correo electrónico
Translations
  • French: envoyer un courriel, courrieller
  • German: mailen
  • Italian: (to compose) scrivere un'e-mail/una mail; inviare un'e-mail/una mail
  • Portuguese: mandar/enviar e-mail
  • Russian: послать имейл
  • Spanish: enviar un correo electrónico
Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French email, from Old French esmal (modern French émail), from Medieval Latin smaltum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld-.

Pronunciation
  • (RP, America) enPR: ĕ-mālʹ, IPA: /ɛˈmeɪl/
Noun

email (plural emails)

  1. (obsolete, rare) enamel.
Related terms

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