2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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email
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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/eemayl/ (also written e-mail and E-mail ) 1. n. Electronic mail
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automatically passed through computer networks and/or via modems over
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common-carrier lines. Contrast snail-mail , paper-net , voice-net. See
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network address. 2. vt. To send electronic mail. Oddly enough, the word
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emailed is actually listed in the OED; it means embossed (with a raised
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pattern) or perh. arranged in a net or open work. A use from 1480 is given.
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The word is probably derived from French maill (enameled) and related to Old
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French emmaillere (network). A French correspondent tells us that in modern
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French, email is a hard enamel obtained by heating special paints in a
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furnace; an emailleur (no final e) is a craftsman who makes email (he
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generally paints some objects (like, say, jewelry) and cooks them in a
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furnace). There are numerous spelling variants of this word. In Internet
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traffic up to 1995, email predominates, e-mail runs a not-too-distant
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second, and E-mail and Email are a distant third and fourth.
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