email

1 of 2

noun

ˈē-ˌmāl 

variants or e-mail

1

: a means or system for transmitting messages electronically (as between computers on a network)

communicating by email

2

a

: messages sent and received electronically through an email system

receives a lot of email

b

plural emails or e-mails : an email message

sent him an email

email

2 of 2

verb

variants or e-mail

emailed or e-mailed; emailing or e-mailing; emails or e-mails

transitive verb

1

: to send email to (someone)

She emailed her mom.

2

: to send (something) by email

I'll email the documents tomorrow.

intransitive verb

: to communicate by email

As I write this, a colleague who takes an amateur interest in tracking the weather emailed to say it would be "among the hottest days of 2019 so far, if not #1."

—Nina Metz

Examples of email in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Google has all the ingredients to have done this first — control of a mobile operating system in Android, search dominance, a plethora of apps from email to maps. — Kai Nicol-Schwarz,arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026

Your address, billing details and account information can give scammers enough personal context to make a fake call, text or email sound legitimate. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Verb

The Associated Press emailed his representatives for comment. — Mark Kennedy, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026

Nolen had emailed Gajewski in April 2024, asking her to build a private residence for him and his wife, the suit says. — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

electronic mail

First Known Use

Noun

1979, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1983, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing email

• junk email

Rhymes for email

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• entail

Kids Definition

email

noun

variants or e-mail

ˈē-ˌmāl 

1

: a system for sending messages between computers

2

a

: messages sent through an email system

receives a lot of email

b

: an email message

sent him an email

email verb

or e-mail

emailer

-ˌmāl-ər

noun

or e-mailer