mail

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: māl, IPA: /meɪ̯l/, X-SAMPA: /meI_^l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophone: male

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman male, meole et al., Old French male (“bag, wallet”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *malhō (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *molko- (“leather pouch”). Compare Dutch maal.

Noun

mail (countable and uncountable; plural mails)

1. (now regional) A bag or wallet. [from 13th c.]
   • 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:

     What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale; / A brydelynge caste for that is in thy male!

2. A bag containing letters to be delivered by post; the material conveyed by the postal service. [from 17th c.]

   Don't forget to pick up the mail on your way.

   • 1823, The stranger in Liverpool; or, An historical and descriptive view of the town of Liverpool and its environs, Seventh Edition,^[1] T. Kaye, page 96,

     The following are the hours at which the letter-box of this office is closed for making up the several mails, and the hours at which each mail is despatched: ¶ […]

   • 1887, John Houston Merrill (editor), The American and English Encyclopædia of Law, Volume I,^[2] Edward Thompson, page 121,

     If he retains the account, and permits several mails to pass without objecting to it, he will be held to have admitted its correctness.

3. A person or vehicle that delivers such post; the postal service or system in general. [from 17th c.]

   He decided to send his declaration by mail.

4. (chiefly US) (uncountable) The letters, parcels etc delivered to a particular address or person. [from 19th c.]
5. (uncountable) electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages. [from 20th c.]
6. See mails.

Synonyms

• (regular deliver of letters and small parcels): post (UK, Ireland, other dialects?)

Derived terms

Terms derived from mail (noun)

accountable mail air mail chain mail e-mail email electronic mail fan mail hate mail

junk mail mailbag mail boat mail bomb mailbox mail call mail carrier mail fraud

mailman mailmerge mail order mail plane mail relay mailroom mail slot mail stop

mail train mail truck mails snail mail surface mail voice mail vote-by-mail webmail

Translations

postal delivery system

• Arabic: بريد (ar) (bariid) m
• Armenian: փոստ (hy) (p'ost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 郵件 (cmn), 邮件 (cmn) (yóujiàn)

• Czech: pošta (cs) f
• Danish: post (da)
• Dutch: post (nl) f
• Esperanto: poŝto (eo)
• Finnish: posti (fi)
• French: courrier (fr) m, poste (fr) f
• German: Post (de) f
• Greek: ταχυδρομείο (el) (tachydromeío) n
• Hebrew: דואר (he) (doar) m
• Hindi: डाक (hi) (ḍāk) f
• Hungarian: posta (hu)

• Italian: posta (it) f
• Japanese: 郵便 (ja) (ゆうびん, yūbin)
• Jèrriais: courrier m
• Korean: 우편물 (ko) (upyeonmul)
• Latvian: pasts (lv)
• Lithuanian: paštas (lt) m
• Persian: پست (fa) (post)
• Portuguese: correio (pt) m
• Romanian: poștă (ro) f
• Russian: почта (ru) (póčta) f
• Slovak: pošta (sk) f
• Spanish: correo (es) m
• Swedish: post (sv) c
• Urdu: ڈاک (ur) (ḍāk) f

organisation

• Armenian: փոստ (hy) (p'ost)
• Czech: pošta (cs) f
• Danish: postvæsenet (da), (qoloquial) posten (da)
• Finnish: posti (fi)
• French: poste (fr) f
• German: Post (de) f
• Greek: ταχυδρομείο (el) (tachydromeío) n
• Hungarian: posta (hu)

• Italian: posta (it) f
• Latvian: pasts (lv)
• Lithuanian: paštas (lt) m
• Portuguese: correio (pt)
• Russian: почта (ru) (póčta) f
• Slovak: pošta (sk) f
• Swedish: post (sv) c

parcels and letters

• Czech: pošta (cs) f
• Danish: post (da)
• Finnish: posti (fi)
• French: poste (fr)
• Georgian: ფოსტა (ka) (p'osta)
• German: Post (de) f
• Greek: αλληλογραφία (el) (allilografía) f, ταχυδρομείο (el) (tachydromeío) n
• Interlingua: posta (ia)

• Italian: posta (it) f
• Latvian: pasts (lv)
• Lithuanian: paštas (lt) m
• Lojban: se mrilu (jbo)
• Portuguese: correspondência (pt) f
• Russian: почта (ru) (póčta) f, корреспонденция (ru) (korrespondéncija) f
• Slovak: pošta (sk) f
• Swedish: post (sv) c
• Yiddish: פּאָסט (yi) (post) f

electronic mail

• Danish: mail (da), e-mail (da), e-post (da)
• Esperanto: retpoŝto (eo)
• Finnish: meilit (fi)
• French: courrier électronique (fr), courriel (fr), e-mail (fr), mail (fr)
• German: E-Mail (de) f
• Greek: ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο (el) (ilektronikó tachydromeío) n
• Italian: posta (it) f, posta elettronica (it) f, e-mail (it) f
• Latvian: e-pasts (lv), (qoloquial) mails (lv)

• Lithuanian: el-paštas (lt)
• Persian: رایانامه (fa)
• Portuguese: correio eletrônico (pt) m, e-mail (pt) m
• Russian: электронная почта (ru) (elektrónnaja póčta) f, почта (ru) (póčta) f, мыло (ru) (mýlo) n (slang)
• Spanish: correo electrónico (es) m, mail (es) m
• Swedish: mejl (sv)

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.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: pošta (sh) (1-4) f, poštanski (sh)
• Hebrew: דואר (he) (do'ar)
• Interlingua: (1, 2, 4) posta (ia), currero (ia), (3) correspondentia (ia), (5) malia (ia)

• Portuguese: correio (pt) m, (rare:; 1, 2, 3, 4) posta (pt) f, (3) correspondência (pt) f, (5) malha (pt) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пошта (sh) (1-4) f, поштански (sh) (poštanski)

  Roman: (1-4) pošta (sh) f

Verb

mail (third-person singular simple present mails, present participle mailing, simple past and past participle mailed)

1. (transitive) to send (a letter or parcel) through the mail

Synonyms

• (send through the mail): post

Derived terms

• mailer
• mailing

Translations

to send via the post

• Arabic: بريد (ar)
• Finnish: postittaa (fi)
• Greek: ταχυδρομώ (el) (tachydromó)
• Hungarian: levél (hu)
• Interlingua: postar (ia), inviar (ia)
• Italian: inviare (it), impostare (it)
• Lithuanian: siųsti (lt)

• Lojban: mrilu (jbo)
• Portuguese: postar (pt), enviar (pt), remeter (pt), expedir (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: послати (sh)

  Roman: poslati (sh)

• Spanish: enviar por correo (es)
• Swedish: posta (sv)

Etymology 2

From Middle English maille (“mail armor”), from Old French maille (“loop, stich”), from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (“smear, rub”).

Noun

Mail

mail (uncountable)

1. (uncountable) armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.

Derived terms

• chain mail
• plate mail
• scale mail
• mailed

Translations

armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together

• Finnish: rengaspanssari (fi)
• German: Kettenpanzer, Kettenhemd (de) m
• Greek: θώρακας (el) (thórakas) m, πανοπλία (el) (panoplía) f
• Hungarian: páncél (hu)

• Latin: sūta (la) n pl
• Portuguese: malha (pt) f
• Russian: кольчуга (ru) (kol'čúga) f

Etymology 3

Middle English mal, male from Old English māl (“speech, contract, agreement”) from Old Norse mál (“agreement, speech, lawsuit”). Akin to Old English mæl (“mǣl”).

Alternative forms

• maill

Noun

mail (plural mails)

1. (chiefly Scotland) A monetary payment or tribute.
2. Rent.
3. Tax.

Anagrams

• alim, Liam, Lima, Mali

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Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin milium.

Noun

mail m

1. millet
2. birdseed

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eːl

Verb

mail

1. first-person singular present indicative of mailen
2. imperative of mailen

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Fiji Hindi

Etymology

From English mile (“imperial measure of distance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maɪl/

Noun

mail

1. mile

References

• Fiji Hindi Dictionary

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maj/

Etymology 1

From Latin malleus (“hammer”).

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

1. mallet
2. (sports, historical) pall mall
3. mall, promenade
4. (Quebec) mall, shopping mall

Etymology 2

From English email

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

1. email

Synonyms

• courriel
• mél

Anagrams

• lima

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Italian

Etymology

English

Noun

mail f (invariable)

1. email

Anagrams

• almi
• lami
• lima
• mali, Mali
• mila

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Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Sursilvan, Surmiran) meil
• (Sutsilvan) mel

Etymology

From Latin mālum. Compare Romanian măr.

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader) apple

Synonyms

• (Puter) pom