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