email

SayEE-maylUS/ˈiˌmeɪl//ˈiːmeɪl/

Pluralemails

Verbemails, emailing, emailed

5 meanings of email

Practice

1
messagenouncountable or uncountable
A message sent by email. It can also mean all the messages you send or get this way.
Like a letter, but it travels through the internet instead of the mail.
I got an email from my teacher about the test.
She sent two emails to the landlord before he answered.
UsageSay an email or emails for messages; a lot of email means many messages.
Similarmail
2
message systemnoununcountable
A way to send messages and files between computers or phones over a network, usually the internet.
Like a post office that works through the internet instead of with paper letters.
My grandmother finally learned how to use email last year.
We keep in touch by email because she lives far away.
UsageSay you send something by email.
Note
3
send onlineverbtransitive or intransitive
To send someone a message or file by email, or to write and send emails.
Email me when you get home safe.
She emailed her teacher about the missing homework.
UsageSay email me, with no to. You email a file to someone.
Note
4
addressnouncolloquialcountable
A short, casual way of saying email address: the address where someone gets messages.
Can I get your email so I can send you the photos?
She wrote her email on the sign-up sheet at the gym.
UsagePeople say your email for your address. On forms, write email address.

Less common meaning

5
e-MAYL/ɛˈmeɪl/
nounobsolete
A hard, shiny coating melted onto metal, glass, or pottery.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of email apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–4

"Email" is a short form of "electronic mail." It first appeared in the 1970s.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Email is an abbreviation of electronic mail. en.wiktionary.org
Email, meaning electronic mail, is first attested in the 1970s. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 5

This word came from Middle French "email" and Old French "esmal," meaning "enamel." It goes back through Medieval Latin "smaltum" to an ancient root meaning "to melt or soften."

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Email in its enamel sense came from Middle French email and Old French esmal, meaning enamel. en.wiktionary.org
The etymology goes back through Medieval Latin smaltum. en.wiktionary.org
The ultimate ancient root meant to melt or soften. en.wiktionary.org