different between mail vs nonmailable

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, Canada)
  • enPR: m?l
  • IPA^(key): /me?l/, [me???]
• Rhymes: -e?l
• Homophone: male

Etymology 1

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

Noun

mail (countable and uncountable, plural mails)

1. (now regional) A bag or wallet. [from 13^thc.]
   • 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:

     What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale; / A brydelynge caste for that is in thy male!

2. A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.
3. The material conveyed by the postal service. [from 17^thc.]
   • 1823, The stranger in Liverpool; or, An historical and descriptive view of the town of Liverpool and its environs, Seventh Edition, T. Kaye, page 96,

     The following are the hours at which the letter-box of this office is closed for making up the several mails, and the hours at which each mail is despatched: ¶ […]

   • 1887, John Houston Merrill (editor), The American and English Encyclopædia of Law, Volume I, Edward Thompson, p.121,

     If he retains the account, and permits several mails to pass without objecting to it, he will be held to have admitted its correctness.
4. (dated) A stagecoach, train or ship that delivers such post.
5. The postal service or system in general. [from 17^thc.]

   Synonym: (UK, Ireland) post

6. (chiefly US, uncountable) The letters, parcels, etc. delivered to a particular address or person. [from 19^thc.]
7. (uncountable) Electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages. [from 20^thc.]
8. 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?”

Usage notes

In the United States, mails (plural) can mean "the postal system".

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mail (third-person singular simple present mails, present participle mailing, simple past and past participle mailed)

2. (ditransitive) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.
3. (ditransitive) To send by electronic mail.

   Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.

   • 1983, "Donn Seeley", Source for 'Grab' (on newsgroup net.unix-wizards)

     There has been a crackdown on non-ARPA use of a local ARPA gateway, so I am reluctant to attempt to mail the file to ARPA sites.

   • 1998, "Michael Tomsett", Re: Multiple postings? (on newsgroup alt.music.manics)

     Since .mp3's are so big (well for me with a 33.6kp/s connection they are anyway) maybe you should offer on your site to mail the file to people who want it, and have them request it, thus saving your web space, your upload time and their download time […]

   • 2003, "Chrissy", Re: Send mail with attachment (on newsgroup microsoft.public.excel.programming)

     If you mail an attachment from one mail client then it does not matter if the receiver uses a different mail client. The mail you send should be able to be read from their mail client.

4. (transitive) To contact (a person) by electronic mail.

   I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.

   • 2000, "Carlton Alton Deltree", Whoever did this sucks... (on newsgroup alt.comp.virus)

     I was horrified but my data was OK. Then, it saw it open my e-mail package and start to mail my friends. I turned the power off.

   • 2002, Jessica Mann, The voice from the grave, page 189:

     'Yes, at Quantico. She was so excited by it, she sent all those emails, you remember I told you about it -' 'Yes, she mailed me from there too.'

   • 2011, Rose Budworth-Levine, Intimate Encounters, page 41:

     He mailed me and said he had managed to hack into my email accounts.

Synonyms

• (send through the mail): post

Derived terms

Translations

Descendants

• Thai: ???? (mee)

Etymology 2

From Middle English maille (“mail armor”), borrowed from Old French maille (“loop, stitch”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh?-tleh?, from *smeh?- (“smear, rub”).

Alternative forms

• maille

Noun

mail (usually uncountable, plural mails)

1. (uncountable) Armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.
2. (nautical) A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
3. Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.
   • 1716, John Gay, Epistle to the Earl of Burlington

     We […] strip the lobster of his scarlet mail.
4. (obsolete, rare) A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather.
   • 1653, Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler:

     the moorish-fly; made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake

Derived terms

Related terms

• mailed

Translations

Verb

mail (third-person singular simple present mails, present participle mailing, simple past and past participle mailed)

1. (transitive) To arm with mail.
2. (transitive) To pinion.

Etymology 3

From Middle English mal, male from Old English m?l (“speech, contract, agreement”) from Old Norse mál (“agreement, speech, lawsuit”). Akin to Old English m?l (“speech”). Related to Old English m?lan (mell), maþelian (“to speak out, declare”). From *maþl? (“meeting-place”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meh?d- (“to encounter, come”), if so related to meet, and moot.

Alternative forms

• maile, maill, maille

Noun

mail (plural mails)

1. (historical) An old French coin worth half a denier.
2. (chiefly Scotland) A monetary payment or tribute.
3. (chiefly Scotland) Rent.
4. (chiefly Scotland) Tax.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• Alim, Liam, Lima, Mali, Mila, alim, lima, mali

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin milium.

Noun

mail m

1. millet
2. birdseed

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English email.

Noun

mail

1. email

Declension

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e?l

Verb

mail

1. first-person singular present indicative of mailen
2. imperative of mailen

Estonian

Noun

mail

1. adessive plural of maa

Fiji Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from English mile (“imperial measure of distance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma?l/

Noun

mail

1. mile

References

• Fiji Hindi Dictionary

French

Etymology 1

From Latin malleus (“hammer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maj/

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

1. maul
2. (sports, historical) pall mall mallet
3. (by extension) pall mall
4. mall, promenade
5. (Quebec) mall, shopping mall

Derived terms

• maillet

Related terms

• malléable

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English email.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?l/, /m?jl/

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

1. (informal) email

Synonyms

• courriel
• mél

Anagrams

• lima

Further reading

• “mail” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Verb

mail

1. singular imperative of mailen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of mailen

Gothic

Romanization

mail

1. Romanization of ????????????????

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English mail.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?jl/, /?mejl/

Noun

mail f (invariable)

1. (colloquial) email

Derived terms

• mail spazzatura (“spam mail”)

Further reading

• mail in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• almi
• lami
• lima
• mali, Mali
• mila

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?jl/

Noun

mail m inan

1. Alternative form of mejl.

Declension

Derived terms

• (verb) mailowa?
• (adjective) mailowy

Related terms

• (noun) mailing

Further reading

• mail in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• mail in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Sursilvan, Surmiran) meil
• (Sutsilvan) mel

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *melum, from Latin m?lum. Compare Friulian mêl, Romanian m?r.

Noun

mail m (plural mails)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader) apple

Synonyms

• (Puter) pom

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?meil/, [?mei?l]

Noun

mail m (plural mailes)

1. email

   Synonyms: correo, correo electrónico, email

Swedish

Noun

mail n

1. Alternative spelling of mejl

Declension

Anagrams

• Liam, Lima, Mali, mila

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English mile.

Noun

mail

1. mile

English

Etymology

non- +? mailable

Adjective

nonmailable (not comparable)

1. Not mailable; that cannot (legally) be sent by mail.