mail

MAYL/meɪl/

Pluralmails

Verbmails, mailing, mailed

17 meanings of mail

Practice

1
delivered itemsnouncountable or uncountable
Letters and packages sent by post, or the ones that come to your home.
Trucks carry the mail between cities overnight.
All mail must be sorted before it goes out for delivery.
UsageSay the mail or some mail. For one item, say a piece of mail.
Note
2
send by postverb
To send a letter or package using the postal system.
Please mail this letter on your way to work.
I need to mail the package before Friday.
UsageMail a letter to a friend. In Britain, people usually say post.
Similarpost, send, dispatch
3
internet postnoununcountable
Email, or all the emails you send and get.
Like a mailbox, but the messages arrive on your computer or phone.
The office mail is down, so I can't send messages from my computer.
Can you help me set up mail on my new laptop?
Similaremail
4
postal systemnouncountable or uncountable
The system that collects, carries, and delivers letters and packages.
She sent the documents through the mail instead of by courier.
Many people still rely on the mail to send official papers.
UsageSay by mail or in the mail. In Britain, people say by post.
Similarpost
5
one online messagenounIndiacountable
A single message sent through an email system.
She sent me a mail with the new address.
He deleted the mail before reading it.
UsageHere you can say a mail. Most people elsewhere say an email.
Similaremail
6
send onlineverb
To send something to someone by email, or to email them.
Can you mail me the file when it's ready?
Can you mail me the link to that video?
UsageMail something to someone. Many people say email.
Similaremail
Note

Less common meanings

7
ring armornoununcountable
Old armor made of small metal rings or plates joined together.
Like a shirt made of tiny linked metal rings instead of cloth.
The knight's mail protected him from the sword's edge.
She wore a shirt of mail beneath her cloak.
UsageSay chain mail or a coat of mail.
Similarchainmail
Note
8
post vehiclenoundatedcountable or uncountable
A coach, train, or ship that carried letters and parcels from place to place.
All trains stop at all stations, with the exception of a few "local" stations near Mombasa and an odd flag stop or two usually missed by the mails.
1950, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Kenya-Uganda Railway”Here, the mails means the trains that carry letters and parcels.
Note
9
nounarchaiccountable or uncountable
A bag used to carry letters that will be delivered by the postal system.
Note
10
verbobsoletetransitive
To bind a person's arms, or a bird's wings, so they cannot move.
Similarpinion, bind, truss
11
nounobsoleteuncountable
A spot on a bird's feather, or a feather marked with spots.
[T]he moorish-fly: made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake.
1676, Izaak Walton, “[The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation: Part I.] Fovrth Day.”Here, mail means spotted feathers from a bird.
Note
12
nounrare
The hard covering that protects some animals, such as a lobster's shell or a reptile's scales.
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, / And metal wrought like fishes' mail, / Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, / And shining spears were laid in hoard.
1954, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “A Journey in the Dark”
13
nounobsolete
A bag or box for carrying your things on a trip.
“Fetch me the little private mail with the padlocks, that I recommended to your particular charge — d'ye hear?”
1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord
14
verbarchaic
To cover or protect someone with armor made of linked metal rings.
15
nounobsolete
A tool made of linked rings, used to rub loose fibers off ropes.
16
noun
A small old French coin worth half of a coin called a denier.
17
noundialectalScotland
An old Scottish word for money that must be paid, like rent or tax.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of mail apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–6, 8–9

It comes from an old French word 'male' meaning 'bag'. That came from older Germanic words for 'bag' or 'pouch'.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Mail comes from Old French male, meaning bag. en.wiktionary.org
The French word derives from older Germanic words meaning bag or pouch. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 7, 10–11

It comes from an Old French word 'maille' meaning 'loop' or 'stitch', which came from the Latin word 'macula'.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

Mail in the armor sense derives from Old French maille. en.wiktionary.org
Old French maille means loop or stitch. en.wiktionary.org
Old French maille ultimately derives from Latin macula. en.wiktionary.org