mail

mail
{{11}}mail (n.1) "post, letters," c.1200, "a traveling bag," from O.Fr. male "wallet, bag, bundle," from Frankish *malha or some other Germanic source, from P.Gmc. *malho- (Cf. O.H.G. malaha "wallet, bag," M.Du. male "bag"), from PIE *molko- "skin, bag." Sense extension to "letters and parcels" (18c.) is via "bag full of letter" (1650s) or "person or vehicle who carries postal matter" (1650s). In 19c. England, mail was letters going abroad, while home dispatches were post. Sense of "personal batch of letters" is from 1844, originally American English.
{{12}}mail (n.2) "metal ring armor," c.1300, from O.Fr. maille "link of mail, mesh of net," from L. macula "mesh in a net," originally "spot, blemish," on notion that the gaps in a net or mesh looked like spots.
{{12}}mail (n.3) "rent, payment," from O.E. mal (see BLACKMAIL (Cf. blackmail) (n.)).
{{13}}mail (v.) "send by post," 1828, Amer.Eng., from MAIL (Cf. mail) (n.1). Related: Mailed; mailing; mailable. Mailing list attested from 1876.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • mail — mail …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Mail.ru — Для термина «Mail» см. другие значения. Mail.ru URL: mail.ru Коммерческий …   Википедия

  • mail — [ maj ] n. m. • 1080; lat. malleus « marteau, maillet » 1 ♦ Vx Marteau. 2 ♦ Anciennt Maillet à manche flexible pour pousser une boule de buis, au jeu qui porte son nom. Par ext. Le jeu lui même, voisin du croquet, en vogue en France du XVIIe au… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Mail.ru — Type Public corporation (LSE: MAIL) Founded 1998 Headquarters …   Wikipedia

  • Mail — (homonymie) Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mail-11 — was the native email transport protocol used by Digital Equipment Corporation s VMS operating system, and supported by several other DEC operating systems such as Ultrix. It normally used the DECnet networking system as opposed to TCP/IP. Similar …   Wikipedia

  • mail — MAIL. s. m. Espece de petite masse de bois garnie de fer par les deux bouts, qui a un long manche pliant, dont on se sert pour joüer en poussant une boule de boüis. Vostre mail est trop pesant. il a rompu son mail. Il sign. aussi, Le jeu auquel… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Mail — (m[=a]l), n. [OE. male bag, OF. male, F. malle bag, trunk, mail, OHG. malaha, malha, wallet; akin to D. maal, male; cf. Gael. & Ir. mala, Gr. molgo s hide, skin.] 1. A bag; a wallet. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 2. The bag or bags with the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mail — mail1 [māl] n. [ME male < OFr < MHG malhe, a traveling bag < OHG malaha, wallet] 1. a) Now Scot. a bag or piece of baggage b) Archaic a bag or packet of letters, etc. to be transported by post 2. a) letters, papers, packages, etc. h …   English World dictionary

  • Mail — (m[=a]l), n. [OE. maile, maille, F. maille a ring of mail, mesh, network, a coat of mail, fr. L. macula spot, a mesh of a net. Cf. {Macle}, {Macula}, {Mascle}.] 1. A flexible fabric made of metal rings interlinked. It was used especially for… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mail Me — Single by Haruko Momoi Released …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”