1982年，缩写自 electronic mail（1977年； 见 electronic + mail（n.1））； 这导致了对旧系统的蔑视性应用 snail mail（1983年）。
Even aerial navigation in 1999 was found too slow to convey and deliver the mails. The pneumatic tube system was even swifter, and with such facilities at hand it is not surprising that people in San Francisco received four daily editions of the Manhattan journals, although the distance between Sandy Hook and the Golden Gate is a matter of 3,600 miles. ["Looking Forward," Arthur Bird, 1899]
即使在1999年，空中导航也被发现传递和递送邮件太慢了。气压管系统更快，有了这样的设施，旧金山的人们每天收到四份曼哈顿报纸的最新版，尽管桑迪胡克和金门之间的距离是3600英里。["Looking Forward," Arthur Bird, 1899]
美联社风格指南将其缩写为 email 2011年。
该词起源时间：1982年