email

e-mail · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    Messages sent and received electronically via computer networks.

  2. 2.

    To send a message to someone using electronic mail.

  3. 3.

    A single message sent or received in this way.

  4. 4.

    A system for sending such messages.

Forms

plural: emails

Phrases & expressions

  • •
    email address — the identifier used to send and receive email
  • •
    email attachment — a file sent along with an email message
  • •
    junk email/spam — unwanted promotional or malicious emails

Related words

Antonyms: snail mail
See also: emails, inbox, internet, message
Synonyms: e-mail, electronic mail

Etymology

A shortening of electronic mail, coined in the 1970s-1980s with the development of computer networks. The term became widely used with the rise of the internet in the 1990s.