email English · revision 3965

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1982|origins=en electronic mail}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈiː.meɪl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening of [[electronic mail]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) first written e-mail,^(Etymonline) from [[electronic]] and [[mail]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A system for sending messages between computers, or the messages so sent: 1982, short for electronic mail (1977).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hendrickson calls it an American abbreviation coined in the early 1980s.^(Hendrickson 2008) It led to the contemptuous ''snail mail'' (1983) for the old postal system.^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008) The verb, “to send by email”, is from 1987.^(OED 1989) The spelling e-mail is still common, with E-mail and email as variants.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1977 – ''electronic mail''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1982 – ''email''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1983 – ''snail mail''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1987 – verb.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer [[network]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A message or messages sent by this system.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To send a message to someone by email, or to send something by email.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mail]]

+ * [[electronic]]

+ * [[enamel]]

+ * [[snail mail]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An older email, from French émail “enamel”, was a kind of pottery decoration (1853) and occurs in ''email ink'', for glass and porcelain.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}