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email

email

220 1.0
A system for sending messages over the internet
  • noun
  • /ˈiːmeɪl/
  • Texting
translation icon : correo electrónico
  • After sending an email to customer support, I quickly got a response.
  • phone or email
  • fax and email
  • calls and email

So I mean, in those days, you know, e-mail was just getting started.

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Examples

  • And this was his e-mail to me about two weeks ago.

  • I've been talking with Cooper on email for so long.

  • So I mean, in those days, you know, e-mail was just getting started.

  • Okay, so, we just received the email to sign the contract.

  • And at that point, she sets up a private email system.

  • Make sure your phone number and email are on every page.

    Academic text (2011)
  • What is the point of email if nobody reads the whole thing?

  • For many, the telephone is old-fashioned and only email will do as a means of communication.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Students were then debriefed via email and presented with experiment results.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Philadelphia lawyer Wall argues that email is inherently less private than a phone call.

    Academic text (2000)

Synonyms

mail
vsemail
  • Texting
203 1.0

Messages sent or received over the internet

is the standard technical name rather than the brief general word
electronic mail
vsemail
  • Texting
5 2.8

A way to send messages and documents between computers over the Internet

is the common short term used instead of the full phrase
e-mail
vsemail
  • Texting
1.0

A way for people to send messages to each other using the internet

is the modern unhyphenated written form for the same messaging system

Antonyms

snail mail
  • Informal
7 3.4

Letters and packages that are sent and delivered by the postal service

Idioms

A comment that a meeting is unnecessary because the information can be sent by email

Compounds

email address
  • Texting
80 2.3

A unique name used to send and receive email, like user@example.com

email message
  • Texting
5 1.0

A message that someone sends by computer to another person over the internet

chain email
  • Texting
1 3.5

An email that asks you to forward it to many people, often with threats or promises

How Formal

business letter
  • Formal
1 2.7
letter
1.0
email
  • Texting
220 1.0
note
1.0

Surface Forms

email singular
emails plural
e-mails plural
Emails plural
e-mail singular
Email singular

Morphology

email = mail (transparent) = e + mail

The system sense is a natural extension of 'mail' prefixed by 'e-' (electronic), a productivity familiar to learners.

Etymology

Email started as the name for the system of electronic mail — the way people send 'mail' over the Internet. That's why email can mean the whole service or system for sending messages online.