A modern compound of Greek ēlektron 'amber' (via 'electronic') and Frankish *malha 'leather bag' (via 'mail') — so every email sent carries the ancient discovery that amber generates static electricity buried in its name.
A system for sending and receiving electronic messages over a computer network. As a verb: to send a message by this system.
A compound of 'electronic' (from Greek ēlektron 'amber', because amber generates static electricity when rubbed) and 'mail' (from Old French male 'bag, wallet, pack', from Frankish or Old High German *malha 'leather bag'). The compound 'electronic mail' appears in computer science documents from the late 1970s, with the shortened form 'e-mail' or 'email' appearing in the early 1980s. The system itself was developed by Ray Tomlinson in 1971, though the term took several years to standardise. Key roots: ēlektron (Greek: "amber (which generates static electricity when rubbed)"), *malha (Frankish/Germanic
Electricity and 'email' both trace back to the Greek word for amber, ēlektron. The ancient Greeks noticed that amber rubbed against cloth attracted small objects — this was their first observation of static electricity. Every reference to 'electronic' communication carries a memory of that amber observation in its roots.