<
Messaging> (e-mail) Messages automatically passed from one computer user to another, often through computer
networks and/or via
modems over telephone lines. A message, especially one following the common
RFC 822 standard, begins with several lines of
headers, followed by a blank line, and the body of the message. Most e-mail systems now support the
MIME standard which allows the message body to contain "
attachments" of different kinds rather than just one block of plain
ASCII text. It is conventional for the body to end with a
signature. Headers give the name and
electronic mail address of the sender and recipient(s), the time and date when it was sent and a subject. There are many other headers which may get added by different
message handling systems during delivery. The message is "composed" by the sender, usually using a special program - a "
Mail User Agent" (MUA). It is then passed to some kind of "
Message Transfer Agent" (MTA) - a program which is responsible for either delivering the message locally or passing it to another MTA, often on another
host. MTAs on different hosts on a network often communicate using
SMTP. The message is eventually delivered to the recipient' s
mailbox - normally a file on his computer - from where he can read it using a mail reading program (which may or may not be the same
MUA as used by the sender). Contrast
snail-mail,
paper-net,
voice-net. The form "email" is also common, but is less suggestive of the correct pronunciation and derivation than "e-mail". The word is used as a noun for the concept ("Isn' t e-mail great?", "Are you on e-mail?"), a collection of (unread) messages ("I spent all night reading my e-mail"), and as a verb meaning "to send (something in) an e-mail message" ("I' ll e-mail you (my report)"). The use of "an e-mail" as a count noun for an e-mail message, and plural "e-mails", is now (2000) also well established despite the fact that "mail" is definitely a mass noun. Oddly enough, the word "emailed" is actually listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. It means "embossed (with a raised pattern) or arranged in a net work". A use from 1480 is given. The word is derived from French "emmailleure", network. Also, "email" is German for enamel. {The story of the first e-mail message (http://www.pretext.com/mar98/features/story2.htm)}. (2002-07-14)
In addition suitable contents:
[ 2 ] [ 822 ] [ = ] [ ad ] [ address ] [ ag ] [ ai ] [ al ] [ am ] [ an ] [ ar ] [ arc ] [ AS ] [ as ] [ ASCII ] [ at ] [ au ] [ b ] [ be ] [ bj ] [ block ] [ bo ] [ box ] [ by ] [ C ] [ ca ] [ cat ] [ ch ] [ chm ] [ ci ] [ ck ] [ co ] [ com ] [ computer ] [ con ] [ D ] [ date ] [ dd ] [ de ] [ diff ] [ ding ] [ du ] [ E ] [ ec ] [ ed ] [ eg ] [ electron ] [ electronic mail address ] [ e-mail ] [ English ] [ er ] [ era ] [ es ] [ et ] [ event ] [ fact ] [ FC ] [ feature ] [ fi ] [ file ] [ finite ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ fr ] [ G ] [ ge ] [ gen ] [ German ] [ gh ] [ gi ] [ gl ] [ gn ] [ gr ] [ h ] [ hat ] [ header ] [ hing ] [ hm ] [ host ] [ hr ] [ ht ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ iff ] [ il ] [ in ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ is ] [ it ] [ ki ] [ la ] [ lb ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ line ] [ list ] [ ls ] [ lu ] [ ly ] [ M ] [ ma ] [ mail ] [ mailbox ] [ mall ] [ man ] [ message ] [ Message Transfer Agent ] [ MIME ] [ mm ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ mode ] [ modem ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ ms ] [ MTA ] [ mu ] [ MUA ] [ my ] [ na ] [ nature ] [ nc ] [ ne ] [ net ] [ network ] [ ng ] [ ni ] [ no ] [ norm ] [ nr ] [ ns ] [ nu ] [ O ] [ om ] [ Ox ] [ pa ] [ paper-net ] [ pe ] [ ph ] [ pl ] [ port ] [ pr ] [ program ] [ pron ] [ pt ] [ query ] [ range ] [ rc ] [ re ] [ recipient ] [ rete ] [ RFC ] [ RFC 822 ] [ ro ] [ S ] [ sa ] [ sam ] [ SC ] [ SCI ] [ se ] [ sh ] [ si ] [ sig ] [ signature ] [ SMT ] [ SMTP ] [ sn ] [ so ] [ spec ] [ st ] [ standard ] [ su ] [ subject ] [ support ] [ sy ] [ system ] [ T ] [ TA ] [ text ] [ th ] [ tm ] [ to ] [ tp ] [ tr ] [ tron ] [ tt ] [ tw ] [ ua ] [ ug ] [ up ] [ us ] [ user ] [ va ] [ ve ] [ vi ] [ voice-net ] [ win ] [ word ] [ ws ]