email

American  

[ee-meyl] / ˈiˌmeɪl /

Or e-mail

noun

1. a system for sending messages to one or more recipients via telecommunications links between computers using dedicated software or a web-based service.

   Communication by email is almost instantaneous.

2. a message sent by email.

   Send me an email about that idea, and I'll get back to you.

3. an address at which a person can receive email messages.

   He’s got my phone number and email in case he needs to contact me.

---

verb (used with object)

emails, present (3rd person singular) emailed, past participle, past emailing present participle

1. to send (a message or file) to (a person or organization) by email: I emailed the company but haven’t heard back yet.

   He emailed his response to the invitation.

   I emailed the company but haven’t heard back yet.

verb (used without object)

emails, present (3rd person singular) emailed, past participle, past emailing present participle

1. to send an email; communicate by email or exchange emails: We emailed back and forth for three weeks before actually meeting.

   She emailed to say she’ll be on vacation next week.

   We emailed back and forth for three weeks before actually meeting.

Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has emailed
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have emailed
  perfect
• have been emailing
  perfect progressive
• emails
  singular 3rd person
• are emailing
  progressive
• is emailing
  progressive 3rd person singular
• am emailing
  progressive 1st person singular
• has been emailing
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• emailing
  participle

Past

• had emailed
  perfect
• were emailing
  progressive plural
• had been emailing
  perfect progressive
• emailed
  participle
• emailed
  simple
• was emailing
  progressive singular

Future

• will email
  simple
• will have emailed
  perfect
• will have been emailing
  perfect progressive
• will be emailing
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of email

First recorded in 1975–80; e(lectronic) + mail ¹

Explanation

Email is an electronic message that's sent from one computer to another. When you receive good news in an email, you can forward the message to your friends and family. Most email these days uses the Internet for connecting the sender and recipient. Unlike some other kinds of messaging, when you send an email to a friend, she doesn't have to be online at the same time to get your message. The next time she checks her email account, your email will be waiting for her. Email, sometimes spelled e-mail, is short for electronic mail, and was coined in the early 1980s.

Example Sentences

Using tenancy documents given to us by Satchit Warade, the BBC traced an email address linked to the person listed as the landlord, Edward Robinson, who appeared to have bought the property in March 2025.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

“The last thing we need is to have a pole fall onto someone or something if there are high winds,” the bureau’s Clinton Tsurui wrote in the June 4, 2025, email.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

It’s not often that I remark on a casting announcement, much less one about “Scooby-Doo,” but the second I opened an email from Netflix, my jaw dropped.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

In an October 2009 email to Epstein, she pitched Epstein on having her run his foundation and told him that Nikolic was moving to work with Gates full time, which she described as confidential information.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

Please email me to tell me where to send the ones I was holding for her.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones