English
Mail comes from Middle English male ‘bag’, from Old French male ‘bag, wallet’, from Frankish *malha, from Proto-Germanic *malhō ‘leather bag’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*malhō‘leather bag’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*malhu‘bag’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400male‘bag, wallet’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘bag’
- Englishearliest quotation 1499mail
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*malhō‘leather bag’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*malhu‘bag’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400male‘bag, wallet’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘bag’
- Englishearliest quotation 1499mail
Earliest quotation: 1499, John Skelton: “What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale;…”
Linked words
through Middle English male
Another origin of mail
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smh₁-tleh₂uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmacula‘blemish, mesh’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*macla‘medieval spelling of macula’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400maille‘loop, stitch’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mayle‘mail armor’
- Englishtodaymail
From Middle English mayle (‘mail armor’), borrowed from Old French maille (‘loop, stitch’), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (‘blemish, mesh’), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (‘smear, rub’).
Another origin of mail
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mōtaną‘to be permitted to, to be allowed’uncertain
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*maþlą‘speech’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350mál‘agreement, speech, lawsuit’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150māl‘speech, contract, agreement’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mal
- Englishtodaymail
From *maþlą (‘meeting-place’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (‘to encounter, come’), if so, related to meet, and moot.
Today it means
noun A bag or wallet.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *malhō / mail