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.

---

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

Three days later, Late Stage’s operations email sent a note saying the portal would be back up and working later that day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

“As a result of this, Amazon sent an email to all purchasers of the Colsen Fire Pit, including the one purchased by plaintiff,” the complaint read.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Why should 15 people be copied in an email?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Trevino, however, did not see the email, his attorneys say.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

I look through the pages again, then decide to email Mom’s agent.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

You shouldn’t send any business-related emails after 5:30, because you have your own life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Handala previously was accused of accessing some personal details and emails by FBI Director Kash Patel in the early days of the Iran war.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

His office has received emails from parents seeking jobs for their children, and Wolf says he’s always wondered if the kids even knew.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Suez, which runs the facility, sent out emails asking customers who had been at the centre on Tuesday if they had lost a tortoise.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

So were all her emails and text messages—except for the automatic ones she’d set up for Ms. Morales.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I scroll through the portraits he’d emailed me: two women laughing, a family smiling, and my personal favorite, a pop-artish rendering of Gigi Hadid.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

It created fake personas and emailed the software developers repeatedly, urging them to accept the new code.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

"I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison," Hasina, 78, said in an emailed response to questions by AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

“Naturally, investors are panicking that we’re about to see cheap domestic supply flood a market that’s been overheating for months,” Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau and a cross-asset analyst, said in emailed comments.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

I’d emailed him the link to Ms. Campbell’s vlog with my video and received a three-word email response: Cool!!!

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Or, tell us how portals have been a benefit in your healthcare by emailing [email protected] and we might include your experience in a future story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

At least two long-time Apple workers who left the company to join OpenAI allegedly took part in this pattern by, in part, emailing themselves internal Apple information.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

At the journal I work for, it’s not uncommon to spend a month emailing a dozen or more people asking for a review.

From Slate ● May 3, 2026

The 18-year-old company, which provides a platform for businesses to communicate with customers through messaging, emailing and calling, comfortably beat expectations in its first quarter as companies adopt more artificial-intelligence tools to complete tasks.

From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026

I mean, Blue’s still emailing me, so I guess he couldn’t have been too offended.

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli