Editing Mail (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Mail_Sample_(back_to_back).jpg|thumb|Mail envelope (back to back)]]
The word ''mail'' comes from the [[Middle English]] word {{lang|enm|male}}, referring to a travelling bag or pack.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=mail, ''n.''<sup>2</sup>|encyclopedia=Dictionary.com|year=2007|edition=Unabridged (v 1.1)|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mail|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219051534/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mail|archive-date=2007-02-19}}</ref> It was spelled in that manner until the 17th century and is distinct from the word [[male]]. The French have a similar word, {{Lang|fr|malle}}, for a trunk or large box, and {{Lang|ga|mála}} is the Irish term for a bag. In the 17th century, the word ''mail'' began to appear as a reference for a bag that contained letters: "bag full of letter" (1654). Over the next hundred years the word ''mail'' began to be applied strictly to the letters themselves and the sack as the ''mailbag''. In the 19th century, the British typically used ''mail'' to refer to letters being sent abroad (i.e. on a ship) and ''post'' to refer to letters for domestic delivery. The word ''Post'' is derived from [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|poste}}, which ultimately stems from the past participle of the [[Latin]] verb {{lang|la|ponere}} 'to lay down or place'.<ref>''Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary'', G. & C. Merriam Company, 1963, pp. 662–63.</ref> So in the U.K., the [[Royal Mail]] delivers the ''post'', while in North America both the [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]] and [[Canada Post]] deliver the ''mail''.

The term ''[[email]]'', short for "electronic mail", first appeared in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book|title=OED Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2019|chapter=email, n.2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ray-Tomlinson|title=Ray Tomlinson|last=Bauer|first=Patricia|date=31 December 2018|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=22 January 2020|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312113048/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ray-Tomlinson|url-status=live}}</ref> The term ''snail mail'' is a [[retronym]] to distinguish it from the quicker email. Various dates have been given for its first use.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lx7UAniLfJwC&q=surface%20mail&pg=PA4|title=Cognitive English Grammar|first1=Günter|last1=Radden|first2=René|last2=Dirven|date=1 January 2007|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|page=4|isbn=978-1556196638|access-date=March 1, 2017|via=Google Books|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414054319/https://books.google.com/books?id=lx7UAniLfJwC&q=surface%20mail&pg=PA4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZUtAAAAYAAJ&q=lady+%22take+a+bath+%22+maid&pg=PA662 |title=Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country |page=662 |year=1843 |access-date=2016-02-16 |archive-date=2023-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414054329/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZUtAAAAYAAJ&q=lady+%22take+a+bath+%22+maid&pg=PA662 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-VMEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22snail+mail%22%3B&pg=PA112-IA5|title=Snail Mail|magazine=Life|date=November 22, 1968|page=NY3|access-date=March 1, 2017|via=Google Books|archive-date=April 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414054339/https://books.google.com/books?id=-VMEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22snail+mail%22%3B&pg=PA112-IA5|url-status=live}}</ref>