email

email — noun

1. the system that allows people to send written messages and files from one comput

1.nounA1
Definition

the system that allows people to send written messages and files from one computer or phone to another over the internet

Example

Priya checked her email first thing every morning before going to work.

collocation: check email

The company switched to a new email system that offered better security features.

collocation: email system

Common collocations
  • use email
  • check email
  • by email
  • via email
Synonyms
  • electronic mail

    the original full term, rarely used in everyday speech but still found in formal or historical references

  • e-mail

    the older hyphenated spelling; still understood but increasingly outdated

Antonyms
  • snail mail

    informal term for traditional postal mail, emphasising its slower speed compared to email

  • postal mail

    the formal term for physical letters sent through the post office

Usage Note

In everyday conversation, email is uncountable when referring to the system: 'Do you use email?' or 'Check your email.' The countable use (an email, two emails) belongs to sense 2.

Common Mistakes

I do not have email.' (when meaning no account)
I do not have an email account.
'Email' as a system can sound vague; use 'email account' or 'email address' when referring to a personal mailbox.
Send me an e-mail.' (with hyphen)
Send me an email.
The hyphenated form 'e-mail' is now uncommon; modern English uses 'email' without a hyphen.

2. a single written message or file delivered by electronic mail

2.nounA1
Definition

a single written message or file delivered by electronic mail

Example

Diego received an email from his boss about the upcoming team meeting.

verb pattern: receive an email from [someone]

Leila forwarded the email with the meeting notes to all her colleagues.

verb pattern: forward an email to [someone]

Common collocations
  • send an email
  • receive an email
  • reply to an email
  • forward an email
  • draft an email
Synonyms
  • message

    more general; can refer to texts, voicemails, or direct messages, not only email

  • memo

    used specifically for short internal business messages, often on paper or a corporate system

Antonyms
  • letter

    a physical piece of correspondence sent via postal mail

Usage Note

Countable — 'I got three emails today.' The subject is typically a person who sends, receives, forwards, replies to, or deletes the message. The object often specifies the topic with 'about' or the recipient with 'to'.

Common Mistakes

I received many email about the project.
I received many emails about the project.
When referring to individual messages, 'email' is countable and takes the plural form 'emails'.

email — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Email is the standard everyday term for sending electronic messages across the internet. 'Electronic mail' is the original full form from the 1970s, but it is now rarely used outside formal or historical documents. 'E-mail' with a hyphen was the dominant spelling until the 2000s and can still be found in older writing, but 'email' (no hyphen) has become the universal modern standard. 'Messaging' and 'instant message' (or IM) differ from email in being typically real-time or near-real-time — think of texting a friend to ask where to meet versus sending an email to a professor requesting an extension. Messaging systems usually show when someone is online and when they have read your message, while email is a store-and-forward system that does not require both people to be online at the same time.

email ↗electronic maile-mail ↗messaging ↗instant message

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • email address
  • email account
  • email inbox
  • email attachment

Prepositions

Etymology

Latin (electrum)French (male)English

Email is a shortened form of 'electronic mail', first recorded in the early 1970s as computer networks developed. The word 'electronic' comes from 'electron' (from Latin 'electrum', meaning amber, referring to static electricity), and 'mail' comes from Old French 'male' (a bag or wallet for carrying letters). The hyphenated form 'e-mail' was standard throughout the 1990s, but the hyphen has gradually dropped away in modern English usage.