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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

mail.

A bag or wallet.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/meɪl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/mel/India, North/mɛj(ɪ)l/India, South
  1. A bag or wallet.

    countable · regional · uncountable
  2. A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.

    countable · uncountable
  3. The (physical) material conveyed by the postal service.

    countable · uncountable
    Don't forget to pick up the mail on your way.
  4. The (physical) material conveyed by the postal service. The letters, parcels, etc. delivered to a particular address or person.

    US · uncountable
    It should be in your mail today, unless the post office lost it!
  5. A stagecoach, train or ship that delivers such post.

    countable · dated · uncountable
  6. The postal service or system in general.

    countable · uncountable
    He decided to send his declaration by mail.
  7. Electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages.

    uncountable
    Yahoo Mail has been providing mail service since 1997.
  8. Email messages conceived in bulk (as with the analogous sense of physical mail).

    uncountable
    You've got mail [old audio clip announcing new email in the 1990s-2000s]
  9. An email message.

    India · countable · especially
    Please look through those mails and confirm whether you received the one about scheduling.
  10. A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *molko-der.? Thracianbor.? Proto-Germanic *malhō Frankish *malhabor. Medieval Latin malader. Anglo-Norman malebor. ▲ Old French malebor. Middle English male English mail From Middle English male, from Anglo-Norman male, Old French male (“bag, wallet”), from Frankish *malha (“bag”), from Proto-Germanic *malhō (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *molko- (“leather pouch”). Compare Dutch maal.

verb/meɪl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/mel/India, North/mɛj(ɪ)l/India, South
  1. To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.

    ditransitive
  2. To send by electronic mail.

    ditransitive
    Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.
  3. To contact (a person) by electronic mail.

    transitive
    I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *molko-der.? Thracianbor.? Proto-Germanic *malhō Frankish *malhabor. Medieval Latin malader. Anglo-Norman malebor. ▲ Old French malebor. Middle English male English mail From Middle English male, from Anglo-Norman male, Old French male (“bag, wallet”), from Frankish *malha (“bag”), from Proto-Germanic *malhō (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *molko- (“leather pouch”). Compare Dutch maal.

noun/meɪl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/mel/India, North/mɛj(ɪ)l/India, South
  1. Armour consisting of metal rings linked together.

    uncountable · usually
  2. Armour consisting of small plates linked together.

    broadly · uncountable · usually
  3. A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.

    uncountable · usually
  4. Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.

    uncountable · usually
  5. A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather.

    obsolete · rare · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

From Middle English mayle (“mail armor”), borrowed from Old French maille (“loop, stitch”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (“smear, rub”). Compare maillot.

verb/meɪl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/mel/India, North/mɛj(ɪ)l/India, South
  1. To arm with mail.

    transitive
  2. To pinion.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English mayle (“mail armor”), borrowed from Old French maille (“loop, stitch”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (“smear, rub”). Compare maillot.

noun/meɪl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/mel/India, North/mɛj(ɪ)l/India, South
  1. An old French coin worth half a denier.

    countable · historical · uncountable
  2. A monetary payment or tribute.

    Scotland · countable · uncountable
  3. Rent.

    Scotland · countable · uncountable
  4. Tax.

    Scotland · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English mal, male from Old English māl (“speech, contract, agreement”) from Old Norse mál (“agreement, speech, lawsuit”). Akin to Old English mǣl (“speech”). Related to Old English mǣlan (mell), maþelian (“to speak out, declare”). From *maþlą (“meeting-place”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to encounter, come”), if so, related to meet, and moot.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.