mail

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mail^¹

/meɪl/ US, UK
/mel/ India, North
/mɛj(ɪ)l/ India, South

Sounds like male · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English male, from Anglo-Norman male, Old French male (“bag, wallet”), from Frankish *malha (“bag”), from Proto-Germanic *malhō (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *molko- (“leather pouch”). Compare Dutch maal.

noun mails

countable, regional, uncountable A bag or wallet. What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale; / A brydelynge caste for that is in thy male!
countable, uncountable A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.
countable, uncountable The (physical) material conveyed by the postal service. Meronym: mailpiece
Similar: snail mail · Opposite: email, mail
US, uncountable The letters, parcels, etc. delivered to a particular address or person. It should be in your mail today, unless the post office lost it!
Similar: snail mail · Opposite: email, mail
countable, dated, uncountable A stagecoach, train or ship that delivers such post. 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.
countable, uncountable The postal service or system in general. He decided to send his declaration by mail.
Similar: post
uncountable Electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages. Yahoo Mail has been providing mail service since 1997.
Similar: email
uncountable Email messages conceived in bulk (as with the analogous sense of physical mail). You've got mail [old audio clip announcing new email in the 1990s-2000s]
Similar: email
India, countable, especially An email message. Please look through those mails and confirm whether you received the one about scheduling.
Similar: email
countable, uncountable A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried. “Fetch me the little private mail with the padlocks, that I recommended to your particular charge — d'ye hear?”

verb mails · mailing · mailed

ditransitive To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.
Similar: post
ditransitive To send by electronic mail. Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.
transitive To contact (a person) by electronic mail. I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.

mail^²

/meɪl/ US, UK
/mel/ India, North
/mɛj(ɪ)l/ India, South

Sounds like male · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English mayle (“mail armor”), borrowed from Old French maille (“loop, stitch”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (“smear, rub”). Compare maillot.

noun mails · maille

uncountable, usually Armour consisting of metal rings linked together. The knight is laid in his mail, only the hands and face being bare.
broadly, uncountable, usually Armour consisting of small plates linked together.
uncountable, usually A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
uncountable, usually Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc. We […] strip the lobster of his scarlet mail.
obsolete, rare, uncountable, usually A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather. [T]he moorish-fly: made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake.

verb mails · mailing · mailed · maille

transitive To arm with mail.
transitive To pinion.

mail^³

/meɪl/ US, UK
/mel/ India, North
/mɛj(ɪ)l/ India, South

Sounds like male · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English mal, male from Old English māl (“speech, contract, agreement”) from Old Norse mál (“agreement, speech, lawsuit”). Akin to Old English mǣl (“speech”). Related to Old English mǣlan (mell), maþelian (“to speak out, declare”). From *maþlą (“meeting-place”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to encounter, come”), if so, related to meet, and moot.

noun mails · maile · maill · maille

countable, historical, uncountable An old French coin worth half a denier.
Scotland, countable, uncountable A monetary payment or tribute.
Scotland, countable, uncountable Rent.
Scotland, countable, uncountable Tax.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: send, post, chain armour, get off, chain mail, chain armor, postal service, ring armor, ring armour, ring mail, mailbox, postal, mailroom, mail-out, mail-order, postage

Translations

Every language

noun organisation

Español	correo
Português	correio
Français	poste
Deutsch	Post
Italiano	poste
Ελληνικά	ταχυδρομείο tachydromeío
Русский	по́чта póčta

noun parcels and letters

Español	correspondencia, correo
한국어	우편 upyeon
日本語	郵便 yūbin
中文	郵件 /邮件 yóujiàn
Português	correspondência
Français	courrier, correspondance
Deutsch	Post
Italiano	posta
Ελληνικά	αλληλογραφία allilografía, ταχυδρομείο tachydromeío
Русский	по́чта póčta, корреспонде́нция korrespondéncija
Tiếng Việt	bưu điện

noun postal delivery system

Español	correo
한국어	우편 upyeon
日本語	郵便 yūbin
中文	郵件 /邮件 yóujiàn, 郵政 /邮政 yóuzhèng
हिन्दी	डाक ḍāk
Português	correio
Français	poste, courrier
Deutsch	Post
Italiano	posta
Ελληνικά	ταχυδρομείο tachydromeío
Română	poștă
Русский	по́чта póčta
Tiếng Việt	bưu chính, bưu điện
العربية	بَرِيد barīd
עברית	דואר \ דֹּאַר dóar

noun electronic mail

Español	correo electrónico, mail
Português	correio eletrônico, e-mail
Français	courrier électronique, courriel, e-mail
Deutsch	E-Mail
Italiano	posta elettronica, e-mail, mail
Ελληνικά	ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο ilektronikó tachydromeío
Русский	электро́нная по́чта elektrónnaja póčta, по́чта póčta, мы́ло mýlo

verb to send via the post

Español	enviar (por correo)
Português	postar, enviar, remeter, expedir
Français	poster
Deutsch	mailen, versenden, schicken, verschicken
Italiano	inviare, impostare
Ελληνικά	ταχυδρομώ tachydromó
العربية	بريد

noun armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together

Español	malla, cota de malla
한국어	쇄자갑 swaejagap
日本語	鎖帷子 kusarikatabira
中文	鎖子甲 /锁子甲 suǒzijiǎ
Português	malha
Français	cotte de mailles
Deutsch	Ringpanzerhemd, Kettengeflecht, Kettenpanzer, Kettenhemd
Italiano	maglia, cotta, cotta di maglia
Ελληνικά	θώρακας thórakas, πανοπλία panoplía
Русский	кольчу́га kolʹčúga

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Cite this

MLA

"mail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mail

Chicago

"mail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mail.

BibTeX

@misc{mail_2026,
  title = {mail},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mail},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

mail

AI In plain words

mail¹

Where it comes from

noun mails

verb mails · mailing · mailed

mail²

Where it comes from

noun mails · maille

verb mails · mailing · mailed · maille

mail³

Where it comes from

noun mails · maile · maill · maille

Thesaurus

Translations

noun organisation

noun parcels and letters

noun postal delivery system

noun electronic mail

verb to send via the post

noun armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together

mail^¹

mail^²

mail^³