(also written `e-mail' and `E-mail')
1. n. Electronic mail automatically passed through computer networks
and/or via modems over common-carrier lines. Contrast {snail-mail},
{paper-net}, {voice-net}. See {network address}.
2. vt. To send electronic mail.
Oddly enough, the word emailed is actually listed in the OED; it
means "embossed (with a raised pattern) or perh. arranged in a net or
open work". A use from 1480 is given. The word is probably derived
from French émaillé (enameled) and related to Old French emmailleüre
(network). A French correspondent tells us that in modern French,
`email' is a hard enamel obtained by heating special paints in a
furnace; an `emailleur' (no final e) is a craftsman who makes email
(he generally paints some objects (like, say, jewelry) and cooks them
in a furnace).
There are numerous spelling variants of this word. In Internet
traffic up to 1995, `email' predominates, `e-mail' runs a
not-too-distant second, and `E-mail' and `Email' are a distant third
and fourth.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {bounce message}{forum}{letterbomb}{mailbomb}{mailing list}{posting}{snail-mail}{sorcerer's apprentice mode}]