envelope

English

Etymology 1

From the French enveloppe, from envelopper.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈɛn.və.ləʊp/, /ˈɒn.və.ləʊp/; X-SAMPA: /"En.v@.l@Up/, /"Qn.v@.l@Up/

• Audio 1 (UK)

  (file)

• Audio 2 (UK)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: än′və'lōp, ĕn′və'lōp; IPA: /ˈɛn.vəˌloʊp/, /ˈɑn.vəˌloʊp/; X-SAMPA: /"An.v@%loUp/, /"En.v@%loUp/

• Audio 1 (US)

  (file)

• Audio 2 (US)

  (file)

Noun

envelope (plural envelopes)

1. A paper or cardboard wrapper used to enclose small, flat items, especially letters, for mailing.
2. Something that envelops; a wrapping
3. A bag containing the lifting gas of a balloon or airship; fabric that encloses the gas-bags of an airship.
   • 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Donald E. Ryan, Jr, The airship's potential for intertheater and intratheater airlift, DIANE Publishing, page 46:

     They have no internal or external support structure, being simply a fabric bag (or envelope) filled with a lighter than air gas. Inside the envelope are one or more "ballonets", or smaller bags, which help maintain the envelope's shape.

4. (geometry) A mathematical curve, surface, or higher-dimensional object that is the tangent to a given family of lines, curves, surfaces, or higher-dimensional objects.
5. (electronics) A curve that bounds another curve or set of curves, as the modulation envelope of an amplitude-modulated carrier wave in electronics.
6. (music) The shape of a sound, which may be controlled by a synthesizer or sampler.
7. (computing) The information used for routing an email that is transmitted with the email but not part of its contents.
8. (biology) An enclosing structure or cover, such as a membrane.
9. (engineering) The set of limitations within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively.
10. The nebulous covering of the head or nucleus of a comet; a coma.
11. An earthwork in the form of a single parapet or a small rampart, sometimes raised in the ditch and sometimes beyond it.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wilhelm to this entry?)

Derived terms

Terms derived from envelope

envelope detector envelope paradox envelope stuffer

padded envelope push the envelope return envelope

window envelope

Synonyms

• (something that envelops): wrapper
• (bag containing the lifting gas): gasbag

Translations

wrapper for mailing

• Albanian: zarf (sq)
• Arabic: مغلف (ar) (muġállaf) m
• Armenian: ծրար (hy) (çrar)
• Belarusian: канверт (be) (kanvért) m
• Bulgarian: плик (bg) (plik) m
• Burmese: စာအိတ် (my) (sa-eik)
• Catalan: sobre (ca) m, sobre de carta (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 信封 (cmn) (xìnfēng)

• Czech: obálka (cs) f
• Danish: kuvert (da), konvolut (da)
• Dutch: envelop (nl) f, briefomslag (nl) m
• Esperanto: koverto (eo)
• Estonian: ümbrik (et)
• Finnish: kirjekuori (fi)
• French: enveloppe (fr) f
• Georgian: კონვერტი (ka) (konverti)
• German: Briefumschlag (de) m, Umschlag (de) m
• Greek: φάκελος (el) (fákelos) m
• Hebrew: מעטפה (he) (ma'atafa) f
• Hindi: लिफ़ाफ़ा (hi) (lifāfā) m, लिफाफा (hi) (liphāphā) m
• Hungarian: boríték (hu)
• Interlingua: inveloppe (ia)
• Italian: busta (it) f
• Japanese: 封筒 (ja) (ふうとう, fūtō)
• Jèrriais: env'loppe f
• Khmer: ស្រោមសំបុត្រ (km) (sraom sɑmbot)

• Korean: 봉투 (ko) (bongtu) (封套 (ko))
• Lao: ຊອງຫນັງສື (lo) (sǭng mang sư̄)
• Lithuanian: vokas (lt) m
• Luxembourgish: Enveloppe (lb) f
• Macedonian: плик (mk) (plik) m, коверт (mk) (kovért) m
• Malay: sampul surat (ms)
• Malayalam: ലക്കോട്ട് (ml)
• Persian: پاکت (fa) (pâkat)
• Polish: koperta (pl)
• Portuguese: sobrescrito (pt) m, envelope (pt) m
• Romanian: plic (ro) n
• Russian: конверт (ru) (konvért) m
• Scottish Gaelic: cèis (gd) f, cèis-litreach (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: омотница (sh) f, коверта (sh) f, коверат (sh) m

  Roman: omotnica (sh) f, koverta (sh) f, koverat (sh) m

• Slovak: obálka (sk) f
• Spanish: sobre (es) m
• Swahili: bahasha (sw)
• Swedish: kuvert (sv) n, konvolut (sv) n
• Tagalog: sobre (tl)
• Thai: ซองจดหมาย (th) (song jòt măai)
• Turkish: zarf (tr)
• Ukrainian: конверт (uk) (konvért) m
• Urdu: لفافا (ur) (lifāfā) m
• Vietnamese: phong bì (vi), bao thư (vi)

something that envelops

• Arabic: غلاف (ar) (ġilāf) m
• Bulgarian: обвивка (bg) (obvivka) f
• Dutch: omslag (nl) m
• German: Umschlag (de) m
• Greek: περίβλημα (el) (perívlima) n

• Macedonian: обвивка (mk) (óbvivka) f
• Romanian: învelitură (ro) f, înveliș (ro) n
• Russian: обёртка (ru) (objórtka) f
• Serbo-Croatian: omòtāč (sh) m
• Swedish: konvolut (sv) n, omslag (sv) n

bag containing the lifting gas

• German: Hülle (de) f
• Romanian: sac (ro) m, pungă (ro) f

• Russian: оболо́чка (ru) (obolóčka) f
• Swedish: hölje (sv) n

geometry: object that is the tangent to a family of objects

• French: enveloppe (fr) f
• German: Hüllkurve f
• Greek: περιβάλλουσα (el) (perivállousa) f

• Romanian: anvelopă (ro) f, înfășurătoare (ro) f
• Russian: огибающая (ru) (ogibájuščaja) f

electronics: curve that bounds a set of curves

• Estonian: mähisjoon

• Russian: огибающая (ru) (ogibájuščaja) f

music: shape of a sound

• Russian: огибающая (ru) (ogibájuščaja) f

computing: routing information of an email

biology: enclosing structure or cover

• Greek: περιχιτώνιο (el) (perichitónio) n, περίβλημα (el) (perívlima) n
• Romanian: înveliș (ro) n

• Russian: оболо́чка (ru) (obolóčka) f

engineering: limits within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively

• Greek: κέλυφος (el) (kélyfos) n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

• Romanian: anvelopă n (tire); evolventă f (tangent to a family of objects)

See also

• Wikipedia article on envelopes used for mailing
• Wikipedia article on envelopes in geometry

Etymology 2

See envelop.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĕn-vĕl'əp, IPA: /ɛnˈvɛləp/, X-SAMPA: /En"vEl@p/
• for audio, see envelop

Verb

envelope (third-person singular simple present envelopes, present participle enveloping, simple past and past participle enveloped)

1. (nonstandard) Alternative spelling of envelop.