e-mail

e-mail
    n 1: (computer science) a system of world-wide electronic
         communication in which a computer user can compose a
         message at one terminal that can be regenerated at the
         recipient's terminal when the recipient logs in; "you
         cannot send packages by electronic mail" [syn: {electronic
         mail}, {e-mail}, {email}] [ant: {snail mail}]
    v 1: communicate electronically on the computer; "she e-mailed
         me the good news" [syn: {e-mail}, {email}, {netmail}]
    

E-mail \E-mail\, email \email\, e-mail \e-mail\([=e]"m[^a]l`),
   n.
   electronic mail; a digitally encoded message sent from one
   computer to another through an electronic communications
   medium, especially by means of a computer network.

   Syn: electronic mail.
        [PJC] email
        E-mail
    

E-mail \E-mail\, email \email\, e-mail \e-mail\v. t. [imp. & p.
   p. {E-mailed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {E-mailing}.]
   to send (an e-mail message) to someone; as, I emailed the
   article to the editor; she emailed me her report.

   Syn: mail electronically.
        [WordNet 1.5]
    

electronic mail
e-mail

   <messaging> (e-mail) Messages automatically passed from one
   computer user to another, often through computer {networks}
   and/or via {modems} over telephone lines.

   A message, especially one following the common {RFC 822}
   {standard}, begins with several lines of {headers}, followed
   by a blank line, and the body of the message.  Most e-mail
   systems now support the {MIME} {standard} which allows the
   message body to contain "{attachments}" of different kinds
   rather than just one block of plain {ASCII} text.  It is
   conventional for the body to end with a {signature}.

   Headers give the name and {electronic mail address} of the
   sender and recipient(s), the time and date when it was sent
   and a subject.  There are many other headers which may get
   added by different {message handling systems} during delivery.

   The message is "composed" by the sender, usually using a
   special program - a "{Mail User Agent}" (MUA).  It is then
   passed to some kind of "{Message Transfer Agent}" (MTA) - a
   program which is responsible for either delivering the message
   locally or passing it to another MTA, often on another {host}.
   MTAs on different hosts on a network often communicate using
   {SMTP}.  The message is eventually delivered to the
   recipient's {mailbox} - normally a file on his computer - from
   where he can read it using a mail reading program (which may
   or may not be the same {MUA} as used by the sender).

   Contrast {snail-mail}, {paper-net}, {voice-net}.

   The form "email" is also common, but is less suggestive of the
   correct pronunciation and derivation than "e-mail".  The word
   is used as a noun for the concept ("Isn't e-mail great?", "Are
   you on e-mail?"), a collection of (unread) messages ("I spent
   all night reading my e-mail"), and as a verb meaning "to send
   (something in) an e-mail message" ("I'll e-mail you (my
   report)").  The use of "an e-mail" as a count noun for an
   e-mail message, and plural "e-mails", is now (2000) also well
   established despite the fact that "mail" is definitely a mass
   noun.

   Oddly enough, the word "emailed" is actually listed in the
   Oxford English Dictionary.  It means "embossed (with a raised
   pattern) or arranged in a net work".  A use from 1480 is
   given.  The word is derived from French "emmailleure",
   network.  Also, "email" is German for enamel.

   The story of the first e-mail message
   (http://pretext.com/mar98/features/story2.htm).

   (2002-07-14)