email

American  

[ee-meyl] / ˈiˌmeɪl /

Or e-mail

noun

• emails
  plural

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.

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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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• emails
  plural

Participles

• emailing
  present
• emailed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• email
  simple
• emails
  simple
• have emailed
  perfect
• has emailed
  perfect
• am emailing
  progressive
• are emailing
  progressive
• is emailing
  progressive
• have been emailing
  perfect progressive
• has been emailing
  perfect progressive

Past

• emailed
  simple
• had emailed
  perfect
• was emailing
  progressive
• were emailing
  progressive
• had been emailing
  perfect progressive

Future

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

See Examples For:

email emails emailed emailing

“I think it’s a genuinely important settlement, but the $17 billion headline is probably the least interesting part of it,” Stanford’s Engstrom told me by email.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

Keep in touch with old co-workers, even if it’s just a quick email.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

The team’s focus will remain on emerging and frontier topics in responsible AI—and sharing work externally through publications and events “continues to be supported and important,” King wrote in the email.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Altamirano said in an email that he’s running again because of a “tremendous outpouring of support” he has received from City of Commerce residents asking him to run again.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

If it’s a rejection email, I’ll be devastated.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Users of Instinct can call or text the AI bot and ask it to respond to emails, manage calendars, book a ride to the airport, arrange a handyman and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

In emails, Marc Treitler, Conservice’s general counsel and president of sustainability, said the company helps all parties save on utilities by auditing the bills it receives directly from providers before passing charges on to renters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Evidence commonly used to support a malpractice claim includes emails and other written communications, court records, billing records, the attorney’s case file and expert testimony from another lawyer, Kassab adds.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Microsoft said this was the fastest-growing scam technique aimed at people's emails, with 18.7m cases recorded in March of this year.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

There were always the awful emails that came with any announcement of their Jewish Film Festival, but those were easy to ignore, especially once she figured out how to train her email filters.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

In an emailed statement Friday, the market said it was “shocked and blindsided” by the news.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

A former carer at the care home told the court that she had become worried about his "excessive vomiting" and had emailed her bosses about her concerns.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

In an emailed statement, Solaris co-CEO Bill Zartler said the company has “not seen any extraordinary operating issues or failure rates on our generation equipment.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

“Its in-house TPU program has been very successful, and they will create multiple variations of that program,” Luria said in emailed comments.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Some of the media people I emailed and called actually showed!

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

"Some people will be delighted you are spending 'quality time with your family', but given that they are the ones emailing you and are hard at work, you could risk rubbing their noses in it."

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Reach the team by replying to any newsletter you receive or by emailing Kim at [email protected].

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editors Perry Cleveland-Peck at [email protected] and David Smagalla at [email protected].

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

That’s a passive-aggressive approach that looks like this: sending the boss updates every 30 minutes, asking questions you already know the answer to and emailing summaries of every minor meeting or interaction.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

I was planning on emailing the chapter to Arthur at midnight, but I couldn’t get myself to send another message he would ignore.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera