Mail | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Mail, n.

noun

n. [Fr. maille, Pr. mailla, Sp. malla, Pg. malha, It. maglia, a ring of mail, mesh, net-work, a coat of mail, Pr. & Pg. also a natural spot or speck, from Lat. macula, spot, a mesh of a net.]

Sense 1. Defensive armor composed of steel rings or plates intertwined with, or enveloping, one another.

Sense 2. Hence, generally, armor; defensive covering.

We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail. Gay.

Sense 3. (Naut.) A square machine composed of rings interwoven, like net-work, used for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.

Sense 4. A small piece of money; especially, an English silver halfpenny of the time of Henry V. [Obs.] [Written also maile and maille.]

☞ Mail is sometimes used to form compounds of very obvious signification; as, mail-clad, mail-covered, mail-sheathed, and the like.

An illustration of a coat of mail, shown as a short sleeveless garment made of overlapping scales. — Coat of Mail.

Māil, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. To put a coat of mail or armor upon; to arm defensively.

Māil, n.

noun

n. [Fr. malle, Pr., Sp., & Pg. mala, trunk, mail, Ir. & Gael. mala, bag, budget, or sack, O. H. Ger. malaha, malha, wallet, M. H. Ger. malhe, D. maal, male: allied to Gr. μολγός, hide, skin.]

A bag for the conveyance of letters and papers, particularly letters conveyed from one post-office to another, under public authority.
Hence, the contents of such a bag; mailed matter, as letters, papers, &c.
The person who carries the mail, or the coach or carriage in which the mail is conveyed.

Māil, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. MAILED; p. pr. & vb. n. MAILING.] To prepare for transmission by the mail; to put into the post-office for transmission; to post.

Māil, n.

noun

n. [A-S. mål, mĕl, a mole, spot, blot, O. & N. Ger. mål, Goth. mail, for mahil. Cf. MOLE.] A spot; a rent; a disfigurement. [Obs.]