electronic mail
(e-mail) Messages automatically passed from one
computer user to another, often through computer {networks}
and/or via {modems} over telephone lines.
A message, especially one following the common {RFC 822}
{standard}, begins with several lines of {headers}, followed
by a blank line, and the body of the message. An increasing
number of e-mail systems support the {MIME} {standard} which
allows the message body to contain "{attachments}" of
different kinds rather than just one block of plain {ASCII}
text. It is conventional for the body to end with a
{signature}.
Headers give the name and {electronic mail address} of the
sender and recipient(s), the time and date when it was sent
and a subject. There are many other headers which may get
added by different {message handling systems} during delivery.
The message is "composed" by the sender, often using a special
program - a "{Mail User Agent}" (MUA). It is then passed to
some kind of "{Message Transfer Agent}" (MTA) - a program
which is responsible for either delivering the message locally
or passing it to another MTA, probably on another {host}.
MTAs on different hosts on a network often communicate using
{SMTP}. The message is eventually delivered to the
recipient's {mailbox} - normally a file on his computer - from
where he can read it using a mail reading program (which may
or may not be the same {MUA} as used by the sender).
Contrast {snail-mail}, {paper-net}, {voice-net}.
The form "email" is also seen, but is less common and less
suggestive of the correct pronunciation and derivation than
"e-mail". The word is used as a noun for the concept ("Isn't
e-mail great?", "Are you on e-mail?"), a collection of
(unread) messages ("I spent all night reading my e-mail"), and
as a verb meaining "to send (something in) an e-mail message"
("I'll e-mail you (my report)").
Oddly enough, the word "emailed" is actually listed in the
Oxford English Dictionary. It means "embossed (with a raised
pattern) or arranged in a net work". A use from 1480 is
given. The word is derived from French "emmailleure",
network. Also "email" is German for enamel.
(1998-06-25)