Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Mail in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels mail as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Mail

[OE. maile, maille, F. maille a ring of mail, mesh, network, a coat of mail, fr. L. macula spot, a mesh of a net. Cf. Macle, Macula, Mascle.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordmail
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[OE. maile, maille, F. maille a ring of mail, mesh, network, a coat of mail, fr. L. macula spot, a mesh of a net. Cf. Macle, Macula, Mascle.]
Selected historical definitionA flexible fabric made of metal rings interlinked. It was used especially for defensive armor.
Signed record IDwebster1913-mail-noun-fa6523c5d358
Source locatorCIDE.M, paragraph 870; Gutenberg eBook 665
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 665Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "mail" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. maile, maille, F. maille a ring of mail, mesh, network, a coat of mail, fr. L. macula spot, a mesh of a net. Cf. Macle, Macula, Mascle.]" The selected historical definition says: "A flexible fabric made of metal rings interlinked. It was used especially for defensive armor."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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