mail English · revision 3774

+ English has two main words spelled ''mail'': the post, from Old French male “bag”, of Germanic origin, and the armour, from Old French maille, from Latin macula.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /meɪl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|post}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=frk *malha}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The post is [[inh|enm|male|t=travelling bag]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|male|t=wallet, bag, bundle]] (French malle “trunk”),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[frk|*malha]] or another Germanic source,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*malhō-]], the source also of Old High German malaha “wallet, bag” and Middle Dutch māle “bag”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*molko-|t=skin, bag]].^(Etymonline) Dutch maal “mailbag” is related.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A travelling bag: probably before 1200, in Layamon's ''Brut'', according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and about 1200 in Etymonline, a sense now obsolete.^(Etymonline) In the United States and Scotland ''mails'' is still a word for baggage.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A bag of letters is from 1654 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps through phrases such as ''a mail of letters'', and the person or vehicle that carries the post from the 1650s.^(Etymonline) The letters and parcels themselves followed in the 1680s, and the public postal system in the 1690s.^(Etymonline) From “an item delivered” come newspaper titles such as the ''Daily Mail'', a use dating from 1789.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) In 19th-century England mail was letters going abroad, while home dispatches were post,^(Etymonline) and British usage still favours [[post]].^(Cresswell 2021) A personal batch of letters is first American, from 1844.^(Etymonline) The verb, to send by mail, is American English from 1828;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the OED notes that the usual word in Britain is still post.^(Etymonline) ''Mail order'' is from 1867, ''mailman'' from 1881, and ''mailing list'' from 1876.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Electronic mail and [[email]] followed in the late 20th century.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a travelling bag.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1654 – a bag of letters.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1680s – letters and parcels.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – the postal system.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1789 – as a newspaper name.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1828 – verb, American English.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1867 – ''mail order''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1881 – ''mailman''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Letters and parcels sent by post.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The letters delivered to a particular person or place.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The postal system.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Messages sent by [[email]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To send by post or email.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mailbox]]

+ * [[mailman]]

+ * [[mailbag]]

+ * [[mail order]]

+ * [[mailer]]

+ * [[mailing list]]

+ * [[email]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|armour}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la macula}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The armour is [[inh|enm|maile|t=link of mail]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|maille|t=link of mail, mesh of a net]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|macula|t=mesh of a net; originally a spot, blemish]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from the notion that the gaps in a net looked like spots;^(Etymonline) the Latin word is of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[macula]], [[immaculate]] and [[mesh]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Armour of metal rings: probably before 1300 in Barnhart, as maile “mail, link of mail”,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1300 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and about 1320 in the OED, of one of the rings or plates.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Armour made of interlaced rings as a whole is from about 1374.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) Its use goes back to late Roman times, and it was the favourite armour of Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries, effective but heavy and costly.^(Etymonline) The breast feathers of a hawk were called mail from the 15th century,^(Hoad 1986) and the protective shell or scales of animals from 1714.^(OED 1989) The figurative sense is from 1813.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a link of mail.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1374 – mail armour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 15th century – a hawk's breast feathers.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1714 – a protective shell.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Flexible [[armour]] made of small metal rings linked together or of overlapping plates.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A protective covering such as the shell of a [[tortoise]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover with mail.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chain mail]]

+ * [[mailed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[blackmail]]

+ * [[macula]]

+ * [[immaculate]]

+ * [[post]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third, Scottish ''mail'', “payment, rent, tribute”, from late Old English māl, from Old Norse mál “speech, agreement”, survives in [[blackmail]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}