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Mail vs Main - What's the difference?

mail | main |

As nouns the difference between mail and main

is that mail is while main is .

mail

English

(wikipedia mail)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) male, (etyl) . Compare Dutch maal.

Noun

  • *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 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 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), 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.
  • *
  • *: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)

    • 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)
  • (label) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.
  • (label) To send by electronic mail.
    • Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.
  • * 1983 , "Donn Seeley", Source for 'Grab' '' (on newsgroup ''net.unix-wizards )
    • 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.
  • * 1998 , "Michael Tomsett", Re: Multiple postings?'' (on newsgroup ''alt.music.manics )
    • 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
  • * 2003 , "Chrissy", Re: Send mail with attachment'' (on newsgroup ''microsoft.public.excel.programming )
    • 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.
  • (label) To contact (a person) by electronic mail.
    • I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.
  • * 2000 , "Carlton Alton Deltree", Whoever did this sucks...'' (on newsgroup ''alt.comp.virus )
    • 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.
  • * 2002 , Jessica Mann, The voice from the grave , 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.'
  • * 2011 , Rose Budworth-Levine, Intimate Encounters , page 41:
    • He mailed me and said he had managed to hack into my email accounts.
    Synonyms
    * (send through the mail) post
    Derived terms
    {{der3, mailer , mailing}}

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * maille

    Noun

    (-)
  • (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:
    • We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail .
  • A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather.
  • * 1653 , Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler :
    • the moorish-fly; made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake
    Derived terms
    {{der3, chain mail , plate mail , scale mail , mailed , mailler}}

    Related terms

    * mailed

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To arm with mail.
  • (label) To pinion.

    • Etymology 3

    (etyl) mal, male from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * maile * maill * maille

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A monetary payment or tribute.
  • Rent.
  • Tax.
    • Derived terms
    {{der3, blackmail , mails and duties}}

    Anagrams

    * ----

    main

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), partly from (etyl) . More at (may).

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (label) Great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.
  • * (Samuel Daniel) (1562-1619)
  • Principal; prime; chief; leading; of chief or principal importance.
  • * (John Tillotson) (1630-1694)
  • * , chapter=7
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1935, author= George Goodchild
    • , title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=5 , passage=By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.}}
  • Principal or chief in size or extent; largest; consisting of the largest part; most important by reason or size or strength.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Yesterday’s fuel , passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.
  • Full; undivided; sheer (of strength, force etc.).
  • * 1817 , (Walter Scott), , XII:
  • (label) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
  • (label) Big; angry.
    • Derived terms
    * main drag * main road

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Very; very much; greatly; mightily; extremely; exceedingly.
  • * 1799 , Samuel Foote, The works of Samuel Foote :
  • * 1840 , Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Leigh Hunt, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The dramatic works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan :

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) , later also taking senses from the adjective.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • * Spenser
  • That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the gross; the bulk; the greater part.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • * 1858 , Humphrey Prideaux, James Talboys Wheeler, An historical connection of the Old and New Testaments :
  • * Francis Bacon
  • * 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, page 90:
  • * 1624 , John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, and severall steps in my Sicknes (Meditation XVII):
  • * 1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
  • * Dryden
  • A large pipe or cable providing utility service to a building or area, such as water main or electric main.
  • (label) The mainsail.
    • Quotations
    * (English Citations of "main")
    Derived terms
    {{der3, (large pipe or cable) gas main, mains (qualifier), water main , in the main , main brace , main drag , maincrop , mainframe , mainland , mainline, main line , mainmast , mainplane , mainsail , mainsheet , mainspring , mainstreet, main street , maintop , maintopmast}}

    Etymology 3

    ; compare (manual).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A hand or match in a game of dice.
    • (Prior)
    (Thackeray)
  • A stake played for at dice.
  • * Shakespeare, The First Park of King Henry IV
  • The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard.
  • A match at cockfighting.
  • * Thackeray
  • A main-hamper, or fruit basket.
    • (Ainsworth)

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *

    External links

    * 1000 English basic words ----