What is the difference between letter and mail?
letter | mail |
A symbol in an alphabet.
* Bible, (w) xxiii. 38
A written or printed communication, generally longer and more formal than a note.
* (1662-1708)
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1 *
*:An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
Literal meaning.
* (Jeremy Taylor) (1613–1677)
* (1809-1892)
* 2009 , 23 February, BBC,
(plural) Literature.
A size of paper, 8½ in]] × 11 in (215.9 [[millimetre, mm × 279.4 mm, US paper sizes rounded to the nearest 5 mm).
A size of paper, 215 mm × 280 mm.
A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.
* (John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
to print, inscribe, or paint letters on something.
(intransitive, US, scholastic) To earn a varsity letter (award).
One who lets, or lets out.
(archaic) One who retards or hinders.
mail
*1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
*:What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale; / A brydelynge caste for that is in thy male !
A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.
The material conveyed by the postal service.
:
*1823 ,
*:The following are the hours at which the letter-box of this office is closed for making up the several mails', and the hours at which each ' mail is despatched: ¶
*1887 , John Houston Merrill (editor),
*
*:There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.
(lb) A stagecoach, train or ship that delivers such post.
The postal service or system in general.
:
(lb) Electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages.
A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried.
:(Sir Walter Scott)
(label) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.
(label) To send by electronic mail.
* 1983 , "Donn Seeley", Source for 'Grab' '' (on newsgroup ''net.unix-wizards )
* 1998 , "Michael Tomsett", Re: Multiple postings?'' (on newsgroup ''alt.music.manics )
* 2003 , "Chrissy", Re: Send mail with attachment'' (on newsgroup ''microsoft.public.excel.programming )
(label) To contact (a person) by electronic mail.
* 2000 , "Carlton Alton Deltree", Whoever did this sucks...'' (on newsgroup ''alt.comp.virus )
* 2002 , Jessica Mann, The voice from the grave ,
* 2011 , Rose Budworth-Levine, Intimate Encounters ,
(label) Armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.
(label) A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.
* (rfdate) John Gay:
A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather.
* 1653 , Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler :
In transitive terms the difference between letter and mail
is that letter is to print, inscribe, or paint letters on something while mail is to pinion.letter
English
(wikipedia letter)Etymology 1
(etyl) letter, lettre, from (etyl) letre, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew.
- The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural.
citation, passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}
- We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver.
- I broke the letter of it to keep the sense.
Euro MP expenses 'can reach £1m'
- Some MEPs from some countries may have pocketed £2m more than I have by observing the letter but not the spirit of the rules.
- Under these buildingswas the king's printing house, and that famous letter so much esteemed.
Quotations
* (English Citations of "letter")Synonyms
* bookstaveHyponyms
* epistle * missiveDerived terms
* accountant's letter * advisory letter * air letter * black letter * capital letter * chain letter * comfort letter * commercial letter of credit * cover letter * covering letter * crank letter * day letter * dead letter office * Dear John letter * deficiency letter * domincal letter * drop letter * encyclical letter * fan letter * form letter * four-letter/four-letter word * French letter * guarantee letter * investment letter * irrevocable letter of credit * letter blindness * letter bomb * letter bond * letter box * letter carrier * letter case * letter missive * letter of administration * letter of attorney * letter of comfort * letter of comment * letter of credence * letter of credit * letter of guarantee * letter of indemnity * letter of intent * Letter of Jeremiah * letter of marque * letter of motivation * letter of the law * letter opener * letter paper * letter perfect/letter-perfect * letter-quality * letter security * letter stock * letter telegram * letterform * letterhead * letterman * letterure * love letter * market letter * news letter/news-letter/newsletter * night letter * no-action letter * open letter * night letter * poison-pen letter * red letter * scarlet letter * sea letter * small letter * swash letter * to the letter * transmittal letter * varsity letterVerb
(en verb)Etymology 2
Noun
(en noun)- the letter of a room
- a blood-letter
Statistics
*English
(wikipedia mail)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) male, (etyl) . Compare Dutch maal.Noun
The stranger in Liverpool; or, An historical and descriptive view of the town of Liverpool and its environs], Seventh Edition, T. Kaye, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FsQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA96 page 96,
The American and English Encyclopædia of Law], Volume I, Edward Thompson, [http://books.google.com/books?id=75ENAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121 p.121,
- If he retains the account, and permits several mails to pass without objecting to it, he will be held to have admitted its correctness.
Usage notes
In the United States, mails (plural) can mean "the postal system".Synonyms
* (postal system) post (UK, Ireland, other dialects?)Derived terms
{{der3, accountable mail , air mail , carry the mail , chain mail , e-mail , email , electronic mail , fan mail , hate mail , junk mail , mailbag , mail boat , mail bomb , mailbox , mail call , mail carrier , mail fraud , mailman , mailmerge , mail order , mail plane , mail relay , mailroom , mail slot , mail stop , mail train , mail truck , mails , snail mail , surface mail , voice mail , vote-by-mail , webmail}}Verb
(en verb)- Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.
- There has been a crackdown on non-ARPA use of a local ARPA gateway, so I am reluctant to attempt to mail the file to ARPA sites.
- Since .mp3's are so big (well for me with a 33.6kp/s connection they are anyway) maybe you should offer on your site to mail the file to people who want it, and have them request it, thus saving your web space, your upload time and their download time
- If you mail an attachment from one mail client then it does not matter if the receiver uses a different mail client. The mail you send should be able to be read from their mail client.
- I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.
- I was horrified but my data was OK. Then, it saw it open my e-mail package and start to mail my friends. I turned the power off.
page 189:
- 'Yes, at Quantico. She was so excited by it, she sent all those emails, you remember I told you about it -' 'Yes, she mailed me from there too.'
page 41:
- He mailed me and said he had managed to hack into my email accounts.
Synonyms
* (send through the mail) postDerived terms
{{der3, mailer , mailing}}Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Alternative forms
* mailleNoun
(-)- We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail .
- the moorish-fly; made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake