| 释义 |
▪ I. mail, n.1|meɪl|
Forms: 4–7 maill(e, maile, 4–5 mayll(e, Sc. mailȝe, (5 mailye, 6 Sc. mailyie), 5 mayl, 5–8 mayle, 4– mail; pl. 4 mailez, 5 maylez, -is, -us, malys, Sc. maily(h)eis, 5–6 mailȝeis, -ȝies.
[a. F. maille (whence MDu. maelge, Du. malie):—L. macula spot, mesh of a net.]
†1. One of the metal rings or plates of which mail-armour was composed. Obs.
c1320Sir Beues 2836 Al to-brosten is ventaile, And of his hauberk a þosend maile. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13807 Ne hauberk [was þer] non, wyth maille gret, Þat his spere ne þorow schet. c1420Anturs of Arth. (Camden Soc.) xl, Syxti maylis and moe, The squrd squappes in toe. 1460Lybeaus Disc. 252 (Kaluza) And an hauberk briȝt Þat richely was adiȝt With mailes þikke and smale. 1513Douglas æneis v. ii. 91 As golden mailȝeis hir scalis glitterand brycht. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 13 b/2 To drawe out any..Mayles which mighte remayne stitckinge [sic] in the Wounde. 1611Cotgr., Annelet, a mayle, or a ring of mayle. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Mail, a little Iron-ring for Armour.
fig.1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Eph. vi. 10–17 For the breste plate, put on innocencie and righteousnes, to kepe the inward partes of your mynd safe and sure with the mayles of vertue and godlines.
†b. Proverb. (Literally from OFr.) Obs.
1597Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Hawbert, The common proverb, manie mailzies makis an haubergion, monie littles makis an meikle.
†c. transf. pl. The scales (of a fish). Obs. rare.
1484Caxton Fables of Poge v. (1889) 303 And at the bothe his elbowes he [the monstre] hadde wynges ryght brode and grete of fysshes mayles wherwith he swymmed.
2. collect. Armour composed of interlaced rings or chain-work or of overlapping plates fastened upon a groundwork. coat of mail: see coat n. 5. (Cf. chain-mail, plate-mail, ring-mail.)
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1559 Achilles thorwgh the maylle, And thorwgh the body gan hym for to ryve. c1386― Clerk's T. 1146 Though thyn housbonde armed be in maille. c1400Destr. Troy 11107 Sho was bare of hir breast to þe bright mayll. 1460Lybeaus Disc. 1230 (Kaluza) Hys fomen wer well boun, To perce his acketoun, Gipell, maile and plate. 1465Marg. Paston in P. Lett. II. 190 A standard of mayle. 1513Douglas æneis xii. ii. 95 Abowt his schuldris assais his hawbryk fyne, Of burnist maill. 1552Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 130 A jack of plett, steilbonet, splent slevis, of mailyie or plait. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa 21 Their armour..certaine shirts of male verie long and streight. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 368 Mangl'd with gastly wounds through Plate and Maile. 1810Campbell Ballads vii, Every bosom shook Beneath it's iron mail. 1838Lytton Leila v. i. 49 The king was armed cap-a-pied in mail. 1877Morris Sigurd 4 Through the glimmering thicket the linked mail rang out.
†b. A piece of mail-armour. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 152 To hang Quite out of fashion, like a rustie male. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 200 The trunk of the elephant was couered with a maile for defence. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 25 They presently arme al their bodies, and..their very shinbones, and hinder parts, with males of Iron.
c. transf. of the protective shell or scales of certain animals.
1714Gay Fan iii. 179 For this..His clouded Mail the Tortoise shall resign. 1833Tennyson Two Voices iv, Today I saw the dragon-fly... From head to tail Came out clear plates of sapphire mail. 1849M. Arnold Forsaken Merman, Where the sea-snakes coil and twine, Dry their mail and bask in the brine. 1885R. L. & F. Stevenson Dynamiter 106 The mail of a boiled lobster.
d. fig.
1813J. N. Brewer Beaut. Eng. II. 77 The antiquaries who have entered the lists, have come cased up in the mail of prejudice. 1866B. Taylor Poems, Autumnal Vespers 38 In stiff December's mail. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxxii. (1878) 547 She was clad in the mail of endurance.
3. A ‘web’ in the eye. [So F. maille (Cotgr.); cf. macula quot. c 1400.] Obs. exc. dial.
1601Holland Pliny (1634) II. 312 Which eie-salue they say, serues also for the mailles or spots [L. argema]..in the eies. 1847Halliwell, Mail, a defect in vision. Devon.
†4. A hole for the passage of a lace, clasp, or other fastening of a garment; an eyelet-hole, ‘eye’. Also fig. Obs.
c1470Henryson Garm. Gude Ladeis 15 Poems (1865) 8 Hir kirtill suld be of clene constance, Lasit with lesum lufe, The mailyheis of continuance For nevir to remufe. 1530Palsgr. 241/2 Mayle that receyveth the claspe of a gowne into it, porte. 1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxiii. 25 My Sleifis wer of to borrow and len glaidlie; My Lais and Mailzies of trew permanence. 1588Thomas Dict. (1606), Orbiculus, the male or rundle thorough which the latchet of the shoe passeth. 1607Barley-Breake (1877) 16 And day by day this lace a mayle doth bate.
b. spec. in Weaving. (See quots.)
1731Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 106 Every Thread of the Warp goes through a small Brass Ring called a Male. 1831G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 216 A modern improvement substitutes for the loops small metallic eyes, through which the warp threads are passed,..these eyes are called mails. 1835Webster Rhymes 152 (E.D.D.) Temper yer ilka thrum and thread, Yea, whether they wimple thro' a head, Or thro' a mail.
5. Hawking. The breast-feathers of a hawk when the feathers are full-grown. Occas. applied to the plumage of other birds.
1486Bk. St. Albans A vij, Hawkes haue White maill, Canuas maill or Rede maill. And som call Rede maill Iren mayll. White maill is soone knawe. Canuas maill is betwene white maill and Iron maill. And Iron maill is varri Rede. Ibid. A vij b, A Goshawke nor a tercell in thare sore aage haue nott thair mayles named bot it is calde their plumage, and after the cote it is calde theyr Maill. 1530Palsgr. 241/2 Mayle of a hauke, greuelure. 1575[see mailed ppl. a. 4]. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 135 His [a dunghill cock's] eyes round and great, the colour answering the colour of his plume or male. 1655Walton Angler (1661) 107 The wings made of the blackish mail of the Drake. 1678Willughby's Ornithol. App. 398 The Mail of a Hawk is the Breast or Plumage of the Breast in reference to its colour: So they say a Hawk changes the mail, or is white-maild, &c. 1686R. Blome Gentl. Recr. ii. 182/1 The little Dun-flye hath his Body made of Dun-Wooll, and his Wings of the Mayle of a Partridge. 1852R. F. Burton Falconry Valley of Indus viii. 76 Full breast, covered with regular mail. Note. The ‘mails’ are the breast feathers.
b. (See quot.: cf. mailed ppl. a. 4 b.)
1727Phillips (ed. Kersey), Mail, a Speck on the Feathers of Birds.
6. Rope-making. (See quot. 1794.)
1750T. R. Blanckley Nav. Expositor, Mails, are made of Iron, and interwoven, not unlike a Chain; they are for rubbing off the loose Hemp which remains on Lines or white Cordage after it is made. 1794Rigging & Seamanship 55 Mail, to rub off the loose hemp that remains on white cordage, is a kind of steel chain-work, flat, and fastened upon leather, about nine-inches long and seven-inches broad. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.
7. attrib. and Comb., as mail-armour, mail-coat, mail-plate, mail-quilt, mail-sark, mail-shirt, mail-work; instrumental, as mail-clad, mail-covered, mail-sheathed adjs.; mail net (see quot.); mail-shell, a name for the genus Chiton (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
1868G. Stephens Runic Mon. I. 184 The ring-like dots—which I take to be a conventional representation of *mail⁓armour.
1777R. Potter tr. æschylus, Persians 515 Thy *mail-clad horse. 1805Scott Last Minstr. i. v, Ten squires, ten yeomen, mail-clad men. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. i. ii. (ed. 2) 24 Should an attack be made with mail⁓clad ships.
1653Urquhart Rabelais i. xi, He..would have the *Mail-coats to be made link after link.
1803Byron On Leaving Newstead Abbey ii, The *mail-cover'd Barons.
1773J. Campbell Mod. Falconry 262 *Male-feathers, those on the breast.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Mail-net, a form of loom-made net, which is a combination of common gauze and whip-net in the same fabric.
1771Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad iii. (1776) 128 Vain were the *mail-plates of Granada's bands.
Ibid. i. 47 There clasping greaves, and plated *mail-quilts strong.
1838Longfellow Beowulf's Exp. Heort 76 The Weather people..their *mail-sarks shook.
1850Ogilvie, *Mail-sheathed.
1817Scott Harold i. ix. 16 Wilt thou..Lay down thy *mail⁓shirt for clothing of hair. 1869Boutell Arms & Arm. vii. 107 This mail shirt, or hauberk, was fitted almost tightly to the person.
Ibid. ii. 18 The cuirass..was formed..of interwoven *mail-work.
▪ II. mail, n.2 Now only Sc.|meɪl|
Forms: 1–3 mal, 3 mol, 3–6 male, 5 maile, 7 maille, 7–8 meal, 5–7, 9 maill, 6– mail.
[Late OE. mál, a. ON. mál neut., speech, agreement= OE. (poet.) mǽl speech; prob. a contracted form of the word which appears as OHG., OS. mahal assembly, judgement, treaty, OE. mæðel meeting, discussion, Goth. maþl meeting-place. (Cf. mallum.) In sense, however, the Eng. word seems rather to represent the ON. derivative mále wk. masc., contract, stipulation, stipulated pay; cf. Ormin's mále accus.
The word has survived only in Sc. and northern dialects, and hence its phonetic form is northern. If it had come down in midland or southern use its form would have been mole |məʊl|.]
1. Payment, tax, tribute, rent. mails and duties (see quot. 1861). Cf. blackmail n.
O.E. Chron. an. 1086 Se cyng sealde his land swa deore to male swa heo deorost mihte. c1200Ormin 10188 Forrþi badd hemm Sannt Johan..sammnenn laȝhelike & rihht þe kingess rihhte mále. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 And giet ne wile þe louerd ben paid mid his rihcte mol. c1275XI Pains Hell 161 in O.E. Misc. 151 Of heom hi token vnriht mol. a1300Cursor M. 5376, I giue him woningsted to wale For euer-mare, wit-outen male. 1396in Scottish Antiq. XIV. 217 The forsayd Scher Jone sal haf the malys of Ouchtyrtyre. 1430–31Rolls of Parlt. IV. 376/1 That no maile of siche certificate made..put to ony prejudice..any persone. c1480Henryson Mor. Fab. xii. (Wolf & Lamb) xx, Scantlie may he purches by his maill To leif vpon dry breid. 1549Compl. Scot. xv. 123 The malis and fermis of the grond..is hychtit to sic ane price. 1746–7Act 20 Geo. II, c. 43 §17 Recovering and uplifting from the vassals..the mails and duties or rents and profits thereof. a1768Erskine Inst. iii. vii. §20 (1773) 529 The arrears of rent, or, in our law-style, of mails and duties, prescribe, if [etc.]. 1824Scott Redgauntlet Let. xi, The rental-book..bore evidence against the Goodman of Primrose-Knowe, as behind the hand with his mails and duties. 1861W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v., Maills and Duties are the rents of an estate, whether in money or grain; hence, an action for the rents of an estate..is termed an action of maills and duties. 1900Crockett Little Anna Mark viii, He carried a great sum about with him, being the rents and mails of all his New Milns property.
b. With word prefixed, as borough mail, feu mail, grass mail, house mail; land mail: see land n.1 12; silver mail, rent paid in money.
1424Sc. Acts Jas. I, c. 8 All þe gret and smal custumys & burovmaills of þe Realme. 1479–1752 Grass mail [see grass n.1 12]. 1566–67Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 499 He..wes in possessioun..of the hous maill occupiit be the saidis tennentis. 1585Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. IV. 14 To mak pament of his few maills. 1597Skene De Verb. Sign., s.v. Firmarius, Firma signifies the duty quhilk the tennent paies to the landis-lord, quhidder it be siluer-maill, victuall, or vther duetie. 1609― Reg. Maj. 125 Gif thy mail-man will not pay to thee the house maill at the terme. 1640Baillie Lett. (1841) I. 272 Our house maills everie week above eleven pound Sterling.
c. fig. to pay the mail = to pay the penalty.
1807Hogg Mount. Bard 199 Poet. Wks. (1838) II. 263 My sister..By Lairistan foully was betrayed, And roundly has he payed the mail.
2. attrib. and Comb., as mail-payer, mail paying; mail-duty, rent; mail-free a. and adv., free of rent, exempt from payment of rent; mail garden, ‘a garden, the products of which are raised for sale’ (Jam.) (hence mail-gardener); mail-man, one who pays rent, a tenant; mailmart, a cow sent in payment of rent; mail-rooms pl., rented rooms.
1638Extracts Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) I. 392 That na burges..sett or promeis to sett for *maill dewtie or vtherwayes,..wntill [etc.]. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, Deans..contrived to maintain his ground upon the estate by regular payment of mail-duties.
1471Acta Dom. Audit. 10/2 *Male fre fore þe formale pait be him to þe said Alexander. 1638Rutherford Lett. iii. (1664) 14 Many..of you..have been like a tennent that sitteth mealfree.
1798J. Naismith Agric. Clydesd. vi. 101 The *mail gardens around the city of Glasgow.
1820Scott Abbot xxxv, The candle shines from the house of Blinkhoolie, the *mail-gardener.
c1480Henryson Mor. Fab. xii. (Wolf & Lamb) xiv, The pure people..As *maill-men, marchandis, and all lawboreris. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 113 Na Mail-man, or Fermour, may thirle his Lord of his frie tenement.
1445Exch. Rolls Scot. V. 213 Lez *mailmartis insule de Bute.
1597Skene De Verb. Sign., Firmarius, ane *mail-payer, ane mailer, or mail-man. 1724Ramsay Vision ix, Mailpayers wiss it to the devil.
1581Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. III. 417 Throw the quhilk waist, *maill⁓paying, and tyning of the proffites of the saidis landis, he is utterlie wrakkit.
c1626in W. K. Tweedie Sel. Biog. (1845) I. 351 He warned me from the rest of my *mail-rooms in Salt-coats and East Mains.
▪ III. mail, n.3|meɪl|
Forms: 3–8 male, 5 maylle, 5–6 mayle, malle, 6 maale, 6– mail.
[ME. male, a. OF. male (F. malle) = Pr., Sp., Pg., It. mala; of Teut. origin: cf. OHG. malha (MHG. malhe), MDu. male (Du. maal).]
1. a. A bag, pack, or wallet; a travelling bag. Now only Sc. and U.S. in pl.= baggage.
c1205Lay. 3543 Ich þe wulle bi-tache a male riche. c1300Havelok 48 A man that bore..gold upon hijs bac, In a male with or blac. c1320Sir Beues 1297 Inouȝ a leide him be⁓fore, Bred and flesc out of is male. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. 13 A male tweyfold on his croper lay. 1489–90Plumpton Corr. 89 Robart, my servant..is large to ryde afore my male, and ouer weyghty for my horse. 1552Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI, c. 15 §2 Such as make Males, Bougets, Leather Pots,..or any other Wares of Leather. 1567R. Edwards Damon & Pithias F ij, Who inuented these monsters [breeches] first, did it to a gostly ende, To haue a male readie to put in other folkes stuffe. 1609Bible (Douay) 1 Kings ix. 7 The bread is spent in our males. 1632Deloney Thomas of Reading xi. G 4, They..take away the mans apparell, as also his money, In his male or cap-case. 1670Cotton Espernon ii. vii. 335 His Jewels..were lock'd up in a little iron Chest, and carried in a Male. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Mail,..also a kind of Port-mantle, Sack or Trunk to travel with. 1820Scott Abbot xxxviii, They charged me with bearing letters for the Queen, and searched my mail. 1893Stevenson Catriona xvii. 190 He..emptied out his mails upon the floor that I might have a change of clothes.
†b. As a measure of quantity. Obs. rare—1.
1502Arnolde Chron. (1811) 191 Wulle is bought by the sacke by the tod by the stone and by the mayle.
†c. transf. and fig. Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 22 Quhu lucifer..[Broȝte mankinde in sinne and bale] And held hem sperd in helles male. c1386Chaucer Pars. Prol. 26 Vnbokele and shewe vs what is in thy Male. c1430Lydg. Bochas ix. iii. (1494) E vij/1 If ye shall tell youre owne tale..Ye wyll vnclose but a lytyll male, Shewe of youre vices but a small parcele. 1450Myrc 1343 Art thou I-wonet to go to the ale To fulle there thy fowle male.
2. a. A bag or packet of letters or dispatches for conveyance by post, more fully mail of letters; † hence, the letters or dispatches so conveyed (obs.). the mail, the postal matter, collectively, conveyed from office to office; also (orig. U.S.) without article.
1654Ord. Office Postage Lett. §8 To have in readiness one good Horse or Mare to receive and carry the Male of Letters... That no other person (besides the Post that carrieth the Male) be suffered to ride Post with the Male. 1684Lond. Gaz. No. 1900/2 Our Pacquet-Boats put to Sea yesterday with the Mails for Calais. 1692Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 489 Yesterday a Flanders mail of an old date, confirms the several repulses of the enemy. 1746Smollett Reproof 160 With all the horrors of prophetic dread That rack his bosom while the mail is read. 1767Colman Eng. Merch. i. i, I collect the articles of news from the other papers,..translate the mails, write occasional letters [etc.]. 1776C. Carroll Jrnl. (1845) 53 Dr. Franklin found in the Canada mail, which he opened, a letter for General Schuyler. 1782Cowper Expostulation 606 Now think,..If the new mail thy merchants now receive, Or expectation of the next, give leave. 1792Stat. U.S. i. vii. §17 (1856) I. 237 That if any person..shall rob any carrier of the mail..of such mail, or if any person shall rob the mail, in which letters are sent to be conveyed by post..or shall steal such mail. 1794Ibid. i. xxiii. §26 (1856) I. 365 And the letters so received shall be formed into a mail, sealed up, and directed to the postmaster of the port. 1838Act 1 & 2 Vict. c. 98 §5 The Mails or Post Letter Bags so to be carried..by Railways. 1852Hawthorne Amer. Note-Bks. (1883) 424 The regular passenger-boat is now coming in, and probably brings the mail. 1873Black Pr. Thule vii, Everything will be as right as the mail. 1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxii. 441, I think this office gives us three times as much mail as that at Salt Lake. 1883Whitaker's Almanack 384 [Postal Guide.] India.—Mails made up every Friday evening at the rate of 5d. per ½ oz. 1893Daily News 22 Sept. 6/5 Little incidents of camp life in the East, as the arrival and distribution of a mail of letters. 1913U.S. Official Postal Guide July 12 The postage on fourth-class mail may be prepaid by..ordinary postage stamps. 1941Men Only Sept. 12 Forwarding mail is another job that usually falls to the Mess Secretary.
b. orig. U.S. (A person's) batch of letters.
a1844M. C. Field in S. F. Smith Theatr. Apprenticeship (1846) 204 He walks as if he had the missing mail in his pocket and an extra to issue immediately. 1873T. B. Aldrich Marj. Daw 163, I go over to K— for my mail. 1890T. L. James in Railways Amer. 319 That official was opening his mail. 1901Harper's Mag. CII. 784/1 Stormfield in his mail that day..found a despatch: ‘Unexpectedly called home’. 1941Men Only Sept. 12 Although the addressee has made half a dozen moves since leaving the Mess, he expects his mail to reach him without delay. 1953Manch. Guardian Wkly. 3 Sept. 7/4 Mr. Lattimore..had his personal mail forwarded to the White House.
c. Used as the name of a newspaper.
1789(title) The Evening Mail. 1823(title) Waterford Daily Mail. 1896(title) The Daily Mail. 1896Lloyd George Family Lett. (1973) 108 There are excellent reports in the Mail & S.W. Daily News of Saturday's meeting at Barry. 1922Joyce Ulysses 242 Look here Martin, John Wyse Nolan said, overtaking them at the Mail office. 1975Times 10 Apr. 17/4 The tremendous financial support that the Daily Mail has received..from its readers for its Vietnam Orphans Fund.
3. a. The person, vehicle, or train that carries the mail or postal matter; often short for mail coach, mail train, etc. Hence, the method or system of transmission of letters by post; the official conveyance or dispatch of postal matter; the post.
So used now in U.S. In England the word in ordinary use is limited to the dispatch of letters abroad, as the Indian mail, etc., or as short for mail-train, as the down mail, night mail. It is retained as the official word for the dispatch and delivery of inland letters where the general public use post.
1654Ord. Office Postage Lett. §2 The said John Manley..shall..safely and faithfully carry all.. Letters and Dispatches..and that by the Common, Ordinary Male or other speedy and safe passage. 1692Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 489 One letter by the last mail sayes, the king intended to fight the enemy Satturday 7 night last. 1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5850/2 The Bristol Mail was robbed. 1778A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 343 Four or five sheets of paper, written to you by the last mail, were destroyed when the vessel was taken. 1794Coleridge Lett. 26 Sept. (1895) I. 86, I..sent them off by the mail directed to Mrs. Southey. 1822–56De Quincey Confess. Wks. 1890 III. 348 The mails were..made so strong as to be the heaviest of all carriages. 1831in Parl. Papers (1831–2) XLV. 128 b, When it is permitted in England for the mails to take parcels on the road. 1842Tennyson Walking to Mail 102, I fear That we shall miss the mail. 1864J. H. Newman Apologia 96 While waiting for the down mail to Falmouth. 1880Print. Trades Jrnl. No. 30. 34 Tender and brittle, and hardly bears its journey through the mail. 1886P. Robinson Valley Teetotum Trees 71 Just in time to catch the night-mail to London. 1888Amer. Humorist 2 June 3/2 Why didn't he send his poem by mail? 189137th Rept. Postm.-General 5 Sixty-four additional direct Parcel Mails between London and other places have been established in the year. 1900Post Office Guide 1 Jan. 14 When intended for despatch by a particular mail they should..be presented for registration half an hour before the closing of the letter-box for that mail.
b. Short for mail coach or van (on a railway).
1862Building News 6 June 389/2, 555 Locomotives and Tenders. 494 First Class Mails.
4. attrib. and Comb.:
a. (sense 1) simple attrib., chiefly obsolete, as mail-band, mail-girt, mail-girth, mail-horse, mail-lock, mail-man, mail-panel, mail-pillion, mail-saddle, mail-trunk; also objective, as mail-maker.
1515Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 69 A male wyth ij *male bandys.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 155 The females [sc. elephants] carry over their calves upon their snowts,..binding them fast with their truncks, like as with ropes or *male girts.
167312th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. vii. (1890) 384 For a *male-girth and tabbs 1s. 6d.
c1440Promp. Parv. 323/1 *Male horse, gerulus. 1469Househ. Ord. (1790) 97 A maile horse and a botell horse whiche the maile-man shall keepe.
167312th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. vii. (1890) 384 For a *male-lock and a letter, 8d.
1311Cal. Lett.-Bks. Lond., Lett-Bk. D. (1902) 74 [The same day, John Morice] *melmakere, [admitted]. c1515Cocke Lorell's B. 9 Masones, male makers, and merbelers. 1469*Maile-man [see mail horse].
1392Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 152 Pro iij capistris et *male panel.
1639T. de Grey Compl. Horsem. 216 A galled backe commeth..with the..pack-saddle or *male-pillion. 1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2130/4 A black Gelding..a little hurt of his back with a Mail-pillion. 1833M. Scott Tom Cringle xi. (1842) 257 His portmanteau behind him on a mail-pillion.
1378–9Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 388 In una *malesadill empt. ixs. iijd. 1414–15Ibid. 184, j Malesadil.
a1726Vanbrugh Journ. Lond. i. i. 81 My lady..laid on four *mail-trunks, besides the great deal-box.
b. (sense 2) simple attrib., e.g. in the names of vehicles employed to carry the mail, as mail boat, mail carriage, mail diligence, mail gig, mail-hack, mail packet, mail-plane, mail schooner, mail ship, mail steamer, mail-van, mail wagon; also mail-boy, mail-carrier, mail letter, mail matter, mail room, mail time; mail-carrying adj.; mailbag, a large bag in which the mail is carried; mail-box, (a) a box in which the mail-bags were placed on a mail-coach; (b) U.S., a letter-box; mail-car, (a) a railway car in which the mail is carried; (b) Ireland, an ‘outside car’ used for conveyance of the mails; (c) Austral. and N.Z., a motor vehicle used for the conveyance of the mail (and also sometimes of passengers); mail-cart, (a) a vehicle in which the mail is carried by road; also attrib.; (b) a light vehicle to carry children, made with shafts to be drawn or pushed by hand; mail-catcher U.S. (see quot. 1890); mail-contract, a contract for the conveyance of postal matter; mail contractor, one who contracts with the government for the conveyance of the mail; mail cover U.S., the monitoring of all mail sent to a specified address; mail-day, the day on which mails are dispatched or received; mail drop [drop n. 17 d], a place where mail may be left to be collected by another person; mail-guard, the guard of a mail-coach; mail horn, a long horn used by the guard of a mail-coach; † mail-maker, an official in the General Letter-Office; mail-man, one who carries the mail; mail-master U.S., -officer (see quot. 1855); mail order orig. U.S., an order for goods sent to a business house by post; hence as v. trans.; also mail-order firm, house, one transacting business mainly by post; so mail-order business, mail order catalogue; mail-phaeton, a high two-seated phaeton (q.v.) drawn by a pair of horses; mail-pouch (U.S.), a locked leather mail-bag; mail-rack (U.S.), a letter-rack; mail-rider, a mail-carrier; mail-road, -route, the road or route by which the mail is regularly conveyed; mail run Austral. and N.Z., = mail-route; mail-runner, a mail-carrier (in India); mail sack (U.S.), a canvas bag used for the conveyance of the mail; † mail-setting a., that robs the mail; mailshot = mailing shot s.v. mailing vbl. n.2; mail-slot U.S., = letter-slit; mail stage (U.S.) = mail-coach; mail-time, the time mails take to pass between two places; mail-train, a fast train which carries the mails; mail truck, a motor vehicle used for the conveyance of mail. Also mail-coach.
1812Theatrical Inquisitor I. 273 The majority of readers..ramble through books as post-boys ride through towns..and..can tell you as little of the contents as those who carry the *mail-bags can of the letters. 1840Longfellow in Life (1891) I. 358 There were three insides besides myself, and a dozen mail-bags.
1795in R. Putnam Mem. (1903) 397 It has been suggested to me that the *mail boats are much too heavy for pushing with the requisite speed. 1855Hyde Clarke Dict., Mail-boat. 1895A. H. Norway P.-O. Packet Service i. 3 The Post-Office selected Falmouth in 1688 as the point of embarkation..for the..mail boats. 1933L. A. G. Strong Sea Wall 1 He did not even heed the mailboat, as she glided gracefully in..to the harbour.
1810in J. W. Hyde Roy. Mail iii. (1885) 34 The bags of letters..were stolen from the *mail-box..whilst the horses were changing. 1872Rep. Comm. Patents 1870 (U.S.) II. 751/1 In a mail-box, the arrangement herein shown and described..for the purpose of guiding and holding the mail matter. 1922M. B. Houston Witch-Man xix. 260 She stopped now at the foot of Little Glory to look in the mail-box. Always she brought him his mail now. 1973‘H. Howard’ Highway to Murder x. 128 One of the mail boxes said Miss Thorpe's flatlet was on the third floor.
1842in J. S. Buckingham E. & W. States Amer. II. 118 [I] saw descending the hill..the *mail-boy on his horse at full speed. a1861T. Winthrop John Brent (1883) xvii. 159 Jake Shamberlain aint a hog, and his mail boys aint of the pork kind. 1874Congress. Rec. 15 Apr. 3099/1 Hitherto seven [officers] were known as mail-boys and the others as mail-messengers. 1907N. Munro Daft Days i. 3 The tune of the mail-boy's song.
1842S. C. Hall Ireland II. 77 *Mail-cars. 1889Ch. Times 27 Dec. 1227 The regular train consists of two sleepers,..and enough mail-cars to contain the mail. 1942C. Aston in N.Z. New Writing I. 55 Martin heard the mailcar go past. 1945C. Mann in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 261 Sent by the mail-car up to Town. 1947‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 48 She had returned from town..in the mailcar.
1860J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career x. 166 The Crampton line of public travel and *mail carriage was only one of the many tributaries to the great trunk lines.
1799Stat. U.S. iii. xliii. §13 (1856) I. 736 The receipt and delivery of letters on the way, between post-offices, shall not be required of the *mail-carriers. 1901N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 289 The usefulness of fast steamships as mail-carriers.
1909Westm. Gaz. 1 June 8/3 The various lines of passenger and *mail-carrying steamers.
1837Act 7 Will. IV & 1 Vict. c. 33 §18 No Mail Coach, Mail Diligence, or *Mail Cart conveying..any Mail or Bag of Letters in Ireland. 1893H. Joyce Hist. Post Office xiii. 316 The London Mail-Cart and Van Service. 1903G.W.R. Time Tables, Parcels and Goods Arrangem., Perambulators and Children's Mail Carts.
1875Chicago Tribune 18 Sept. 5/3 The Post-Office Department has introduced the use of a ‘*mail-catcher’. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Mail-catcher. 1890T. L. James in Railways Amer. 326 The letter car is provided with a ‘mail catcher’, which is placed at a small door through which mail pouches are snatched from conveniently placed posts at wayside stations where stops are not made.
a1861T. Winthrop John Brent (1883) vi. 50 His ranch is down the valley, towards Pravo. He owns half the United States *mail contract.
1830Act 11 Geo. IV & 1 Will. IV, c. 68 *Mail Contractors, Stage Coach Proprietors [etc.]. 1837*Mail Diligence [see mail-cart].
1965N.Y. Times 24 Feb. 26 When a person is subjected to a *mail cover, the Post Office records the name and address of anyone sending mail to him, as well as the postmarking and the class of mail. 1974Daily Tel. 29 Jan. 17/4 The FBI began its investigation of Miss Paton as a result of a ‘mail cover’ on the New York headquarters of the party.
1855J. Evans Let. 15 June in G. N. Jones Florida Plantation Rec. (1927) 131 People will be there [sc. at the post office] every *Mail day. 1926[see back blocks, backblocks n. pl.]. 1933B. Willoughby Alaskans All 102 Everywhere in the land mail-day is the most longed-for, the most important day the Alaskan knows.
1972Time 17 Apr. 45/1 It is hiring a full-time employment counselor to help them find new jobs if they are fired, and even has a special *mail drop to receive anonymous tips. 1973Sat. Rev. World (U.S.) 4 Dec. 46/2 Today's students traveling abroad use American Express offices as a mail drop.
1887C. F. Holder Living Lights 119 John Stewart, who for many years drove a *mail⁓gig between Dunkeld and Aberfeldy.
1790Wolcot (P. Pindar) Advice to Future Laureat Wks. 1812 II. 341 The *Mail guard To load his blunderbuss and blow his horn. 1844Mail Guard [see mail-train].
1909‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny x. 165 One afternoon Jimmy Valentine..climbed out of the *mail⁓hack.
1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 299 The shrill twang, twang, twang, of the now almost forgotten *mail-horn.
1799Stat. U.S. iii. xliii. §15 (1856) I. 737 If any person..shall secrete, embezzle or destroy any such *mail letter or packet.
1735–55J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. iii, List of Officers in General Letter-Office. [Two] *Mail-makers.
1881Mrs. C. Praed Policy & P. I. i. 9 Tom Dungie, the *mail-man,..had just removed his saddle with its load of brown leather post-bags. 1889Westm. Gaz. 5 Sept. 8/1 The mails are still conveyed for the most part upon the heads and backs of native mailmen.
1855Hyde Clarke Dict., *Mail-master, officer having charge of the mail.
1875Atlantic Monthly XXXV. 98/1 The *mail matter can be classified into letters, daily papers [etc.]. 1906Churchman 10 Nov. 724 All mail matter for the secretary of the convention should be addressed to [etc.].
1882Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 138 The *mail-officer passed us with the mails [in a boat].
1867Commercial & Financial Chron. V. 26/2 *Mail and telegraph orders will receive our personal attention. 1875Chicago Tribune 8 July 6/3 Few buyers were present and the ‘mail order’ business also was light. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 579 There was a time when the consumer paid what was asked... [This] is radically changed,—changed by the Mail Order Business. 1906S. E. Sparling Introd. Business Organiz. 318 The mail order is based almost exclusively upon circular advertising, and while the mail-order firms employ general publicity, they rely almost exclusively upon circularization in developing and holding the trade. 1916H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap v. 175 Hetty Daggett..orders this [skirt] by catalogue,..from the mail-order house in Chicago. 1928Collier's 29 Dec. 7/1 Wasn't it my suggestion that marriage be turned over to the mail-order houses? 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement iv. 167 He read all the advertisements in his newspaper, which specialised on Saturdays in the mail-order business. 1968‘N. Blake’ Private Wound iv. 64 A brand-new suite of furniture which looked as if it had been mail-ordered out of a catalogue. 1969Times 7 Nov. 14/7 The sophisticated stores—even the better mail order catalogues—want to know what is happening. 1972Guardian 23 Feb. 11/3 Allcraft..mail-order a candle-making kit.
1844Rowland Hill State Penny Postage 16 The net expense of the *Mail packets to these Islands..amounted in 1840–41 to about 7000l.
1857G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone viii. 64 We were driving over in his *mail-phaeton.
1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 July 1/5 Vessel expected to arrive here on July 12—Mr. Wells and Mr. Evans then to leave on *mail plane. 1931C. Kelly U.S. Postal Policy vii. 137 At the great airports may be seen the alert, efficient, young eagles who pilot the mail planes. 1940Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLIV. 743 The design of a high-speed mailplane for overnight trans-Atlantic services.
1890T. L. James in Railways Amer. 312 The *mail pouch just thrown from the car.
1896Cosmopolitan XX. 406 Near one of the doors..is..the *mail-rack.
1801in C. Cist Cincinnati in 1841 (1841) 177 The *mail-rider..from the upper route. 1846Knickerbocker XXVI. 52 The mail-rider sank down apparently through the solid ground with his horse and saddle-bags. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 385/1 These Turkish mail-riders.. drive two horses loaded with the mail-bags at a gallop in front of them. 1944F. Clune Red Heart 81 The far-western mail-rider who, once a fortnight, jogged over the red-soil plains.
1818in H. B. Fearon Sk. Amer. 430 About three miles from the great *mail road to Cincinnati. 1837Rowland Hill P.O. Reform 29 The cost of transit along the mail-roads..being so trifling.
1882Ogilvie, *Mail-room. 1891Pall Mall G. 27 Aug. 7/2 The mail-room occupies the place of what was formerly the second saloon. 1911Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Apr. 7/2 Came before the police magistrate yesterday to answer to the charge of wrecking the mail room of the steamer, throwing mail bags over board, and generally making things interesting. 1968Punch 21 Feb. 270/3 The Mail Rooms (I believe you call them Dispatch Rooms)..were crowded.
1840Penny Cycl. XVIII. 457/2 Sorting [letters] according to the different *mail-routes.
1946M. Trist in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 418 A mail run used to be a *mail run in those days. 1961B. Crump Hang on a Minute 88 [He was] doing the Whenuaroa mail-run in a flash new truck.
1892R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 121 Up the hill to Simoorie..The bags on his shoulder, the *mail-runner trudges.
1822Acc. Establ. Gen. P.O. Parl. Pap. XVIII. 166 b, Hire of Seven *Mail Schooners in the West Indies {pstlg}5,100.
c1688New Letany viii. in Coll. Poems Popery (1689) 8/1 A Turncoat, *Mail-setting, King-killing Rascal.
1891Act 54 & 55 Vict. c. 31 §2 The master of a British *mail ship..when carrying mails to or from any port [etc.]. Ibid. §10 This Act may be cited as the Mail Ships Act, 1891.
1963Times 8 May 17/6 (Advt.), Posters, brochures, *mailshots—these things we love at Tillotsons. 1983Buses Feb. 63/3 A mailshot to all 100,000 households in the city comprising well-produced and comprehensive literature outlining the changes.
1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) 183 He peeked down through her *mail-slot.
1803M. Cutler in Life, Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) II. 135 At 8 o'clock at night, set out in the *mail stage. 1821T. Nuttall Jrnl. Trav. Arkansa i. 35 On the morning of the second of October 1818, I took my departure from Philadelphia in the mail stage. 1834Southern Lit. Messenger I. 181, I took my seat in the mail stage, and travelled three hundred miles without once going to bed.
1866Sala Let. 11 Apr. in Frith Autobiog. (1888) III. 255 All the wonderful people you see on board the *mail⁓steamer.
1841Thackeray Fatal Boots xi, In the evening, after *mail-time, I [a letter-carrier] went back to my mamma and sister. 1912Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 5/2 The mail-time between that town [sc. Villa Rica] and London will be reduced from thirty days to about eighteen.
1844Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 85 §11 It shall be also lawful for the Postmaster General to send any Mail Guard with Bags..by any Trains other than a *Mail Train.
1961L. van der Post Heart of Hunter i. vii. 112 Catch the fortnightly *mail truck to Ghanzis. 1963A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 44 Twice a week, the mail-truck from Bourke brought out their stores and fresh vegetables.
1909Chambers's Jrnl. June 343/2 *Mail-vans in large numbers..are now being driven by mechanical power. 1959Times 2 Apr. 10/4 A Post Office spokesman said that the mailvan had previously collected three bags from a firm in Bell Street.
1831Boston Even. Transcript 23 June 2/1 We..were carted thence in the *mail waggon to Sandwich. 1871E. Eggleston Hoosier Schoolmaster (1872) xvii. 135 You can git on the mail-wagon that passes there about five o'clock. 1890T. L. James in Railways Amer. 325 The big lumbering mail wagons which are familiar sights in the streets of the metropolis [New York].
▪ IV. mail, n.4 Obs. exc. Hist.
Also 6 Sc. malȝe, 9 maille.
[a. AF. mayle, OF. maille, meaille (whence MDu. maelge):—late L. *metallea: see medal.]
1. A halfpenny.
[1292Britton i. xxxi. §2 Quant a ii. s. vi. d. dunc soit le poys liiii. s. iiii. d. mayle ferling. 1379Rolls of Parlt. III. 64/2 De faire ordeiner Mayles & Ferthinges, pur paier pur les petites mesures. 1415Act 3 Hen. V, Et ces quest trove bon argent pr estre illoeques ferrez & coynez en mayls Engleys.] 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xiii. 125 Ȝe left him nocht ane Malȝe or Deneir. 1707Fleetwood Chron. Prec. Pref., Till about 1544, the Silver Money of England consisted of Groats, Half-Groats, Pence, Half-Pence (called, of old, Mails) and Farthings. 1890Service Thir Notandums ix. 67 Gold Pennies and Mailles, Lozenge Lions [etc.].
2. maille noble: a gold coin of the reign of Edw. III; a half-noble.
[1344in Rymer Fœdera (1708) V. 416/1 Et une autre Monoie d'Or, Currante la piece pur Quarante Deners d'Esterlings, que serra appelle Maille Noble.] 1884Kenyon Gold Coins 18.
▪ V. † mail, n.5 Obs. exc. as alien word.
(‖ mɑj)
Also 7 maill(e; and see mall.
[a. F. mail:—L. malleus hammer. Cf. Du. malie.]
The game of pall-mall; a place where the game was played; hence (from the ‘Mail’ at Paris), a public promenade bordered by trees. the Mail (in St. James's Park, London): now called the mall.
1644Evelyn Diary 8 May, Recreating myself sometimes at the maill, and sometymes about the towne. [See ante, 2 May, where the word appears as mall.] 1670R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 29 Going out of the house, you find a handsome Mail, and rare Ponds of water. 1705Addison Italy 217 A Highway..near as long and as broad as the Mail in St. James's Park. [1903Westm. Gaz. 11 Feb. 1/3 A long mail of elms looks down into the gulf.]
b. High Mail: = High Mall (see mall n.1 4).
1676G. Etherege Man of Mode iii. iii, 'Tis now but high Mail, Madam, the most entertaining Time of all the Evening.
▪ VI. mail, v.1|meɪl|
[f. mail n.1; partly back-formation from mailed a.]
trans. To clothe or arm with or as with mail.
1795Southey Joan of Arc v. 4 The martial Maid arose. She mail'd her limbs; The white plumes nodded o'er her helmed head. 1848Lytton Harold (1862) 58, I will..ask what Englishmen are there who will aim shaft or spear at this breast, never mailed against England. 1858Longfellow Warden Cinque Ports, A single warrior, In sombre harness mailed.
▪ VII. mail, v.2 Sc.|meɪl|
[f. mail n.2]
trans. To rent, pay rent for. Hence mailed ppl. a.
1425Sc. Acts Jas. I (1814) II. 12/2 Ande gif it be a man at malis þe hous & birnis it reklesly he sal amende þe scaith efter his power. 1877Alexander Notes & Sk. 8 (E.D.D.) A lone woman or two in a ‘mailt-house’.
▪ VIII. mail, v.3|meɪl|
[Of obscure origin: sense 2 may possibly be the original use. Cf. mail n.1 and n.3]
†1. trans. To tie (up), wrap up (goods, a parcel, etc.); to envelop. Also fig. Obs.
In the early 17th c. often in expressions like ‘mailed in armour’, with allusion to mail n.1
[1548–78implied in mailing vbl. n.1] 1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) III. 1644/1 It [gold and silver] was matted about with mattes and mayled in littell bundels about ij. foote long. 1588Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 209 [A present] was mailed and sealed and so sent vnto the viceroy of Aucheo. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 31 Me thinkes I should not thus be led along, Mayl'd vp in shame, with Papers on my back. 1598Drayton Heroic. Ep. xiii. 59 How could it be, those that were wont to stand, To see my pompe..Should after see mee mayld vp in a sheete, Doe shamefull penance. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. C iv, Then ledde I warre mailde vp in sheetes of brasse. 1619Let. fr. Factors at Surat to the E.I.C. in Embassy Sir T. Roe (Hakl.) 517 To whom wee have delivered a box sealed, maled, and covered. 1653in T. Fowler Hist. C.C.C. (O.H.S.) 228 A basket mal'd up with Cords. 1657Trapp Comm. Ezra ix. 11 Who..do miserably mail themselves in the filthiness of leudnesse. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 225 Three hundred Elephants follow richly mail'd with Sea-wolf skins.
2. spec. in Hawking. (See quot. 1883).
1575Turberv. Faulconrie 295 Mayle your hawke fast. c1610Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. iv, Prince, by your leave I'le have a Sursingle, And Male you like a Hawke. 1623Fletcher & Rowley Maid in Mill iii. iii, If you had..handled her as men do unmand Hawks, Cast her, and malde her up in good clean linnen. 1883Harting Gloss. Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes 44 To mail a hawk, i.e. to wrap her up in a handkerchief..either to tame her,..or to keep her quiet during an operation.
▪ IX. mail, v.4 orig. U.S.|meɪl|
[f. mail n.3 (senses 2, 3).]
trans. To send by post, to post.
The usual word in the U.K. is still post.
1828–32Webster, Mail, to inclose in a wrapper and direct to a post-office. We say, letters were mailed for Philadelphia. 1850Ogilvie, Mail, to post letters, papers, &c. 1862Morn. Star 14 Oct., The Federal Post-office department has issued a notice that any letter mailed with stamps at all soiled or defaced will be treated as unpaid. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. iii. 89 Those creatures..who mail the newspaper which has the article we had much better not have seen. 1875Atlantic Monthly XXXV. 98/2 They mail 244,000,000 letters a year. 1948H. T. Moore in D. H. Lawrence Lett. to B. Russell 8 Lawrence is telling Lady Ottoline that Russell, who has mailed him the synopsis of his lectures..still needs to break away. 1968M. Richler in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd Ser. 170 Once more Mervyn mailed off his novel.
▪ X. mail
dial. var. meal; Sc. f. mole (spot). |