MAIL


Meaning of MAIL in English

I. ˈmāl noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English maill, male, from Old English māl terms, agreement, pay, from Old Norse māl speech, language, agreement; akin to Old English mǣl speech, conversation, mæthel assembly, Old Saxon & Old High German mahal assembly, judgment, Gothic mathl meeting place, market, Old English mōt meeting — more at meet

now chiefly Scotland : payment , rent , tribute , tax

II. ˈmāl, esp before pause or consonant -āəl noun

( -s )

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle English male, from Old French, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch māle bag, traveling bag, Old High German malaha, malha wallet, bag

1. chiefly Scotland : bag , wallet , traveling bag

2.

a. : the bags of letters and the other postal matter conveyed under public authority from one post office to another

b. : the postal matter consigned at one time to or from one person or one post office or conveyed by a particular train, airplane, or ship

the mail for the city

the doctor's mail was late that day

the letter just made the 7 o'clock mail

c. : a conveyance that transports mail

the train was a fast mail

3. or mails plural

a. : a nation's postal system — compare post 3

b. : postal matter collectively

in colonial days newspapers were not considered part of the mails

III. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: mail (II)

transitive verb

: to send by mail

mail a letter home

intransitive verb

: to send postal matter by mail

many advertisers mail to carefully chosen lists of prospects

IV. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English maile, maille, from Middle French, from Old French, from Latin macula spot, mesh of a net

1.

a. obsolete : a ring or plate constituting the basic unit of the medieval warrior's defensive armor

b. : armor made of metal links or plates — compare chain mail , plate armor

2.

a. : the hard enclosing covering of various animals (as of a tortoise or a lobster)

b. archaic : the full-grown breast feathers especially of a hawk

3. : a metal or glass eye in a heddle through which the thread of the warp passes

V. transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

: to arm with mail

VI. transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: perhaps from mail (II) or mail (IV)

1. obsolete : envelop

2. : to wrap up (a hawk) : bind

VII. noun

( -s )

Etymology: French, mall, maul, from Middle French, hammer, maul — more at maul

obsolete : mall

VIII. ˈmāl

Scotland

variant of mole

IX. noun

: messages sent electronically to an individual ; specifically : e-mail herein

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.