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email

or e-mail

[ ee-meyl ]
/ ˈiˌmeɪl /
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noun
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.
a message sent by email: Send me an email about that idea, and I'll get back to you.
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)
to send (a message or file) to (a person or organization) by email: He emailed his response to the invitation. I emailed the company but haven’t heard back yet.
verb (used without object)
to send an email; communicate by email or exchange emails: She emailed to say she’ll be on vacation next week. We emailed back and forth for three weeks before actually meeting.
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Origin of email

First recorded in 1975–80; e(lectronic) + mail1

historical usage of email

See internet.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use email in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for email

e-mail

email

/ (ˈiːmeɪl) /

noun
short for electronic mail
verb (tr)
to contact (a person) by electronic mail
to send (a message, document, etc) by electronic mail

Derived forms of e-mail

e-mailer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for email

e-mail
email (ēmāl′)

A system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network. E-mail is asynchronous and does not require the receiver of the message to be online at the time the message is sent or received. E-mail also allows a user to distribute messages to large numbers of recipients instantaneously.
A message or messages sent or received by such a system.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for email

e-mail

E-mail has become one of the most widely used aspects of the Internet, because it provides a means of mass communication to almost anywhere in the world at high speed.

notes for e-mail

The proliferation of spam and the transmission of computer viruses through e-mail attachments are two of the more problematic aspects of this technology.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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