envelope
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɛnvələʊp/
ipa: /ˈɒnvələʊp/
note: chiefly a wrapping
ipa: /ˈɒnvləʊp/
ipa: /ˈɑ̃vələʊp/
enpr: ĕn′vəlōp'
enpr: än′vəlōp'
ipa: /ˈɛnvəˌloʊp/
ipa: /ˈɑn-/
ipa: /-lop/
note: Indic
ipa: /ɛnvəˈlop/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈɔnvəlop/
Forms: form: envelopes
form: enveloping
form: enveloped
form: enveloped
Etymology: PIE word
 *h₁én
From French enveloppe. The engineering sense is derived from flight envelope. The verb is from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: Arthur Armytage drew the precious document from his bureau; and without trusting himself to a re-perusal, enveloped and re-enveloped—sealed and resealed it;—mounted his horse, and rode off to Greta Castle.
ref: 1836, [Catherine Gore], chapter VII, in Mrs. Armytage; or, Female Domination. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 109:
text: This business of returning letters to the writers gives occupation to about sixty lady clerks in the “Return-Letter Department,” in the gallery up-stairs. To them belong the duties of reënveloping the letters in the well-known, yellow, dead-letter envelope, by which, under an act of Congress approved June 12, 1866, these are returned to the writers free of charge.
ref: 1873 November 8, Louis Bagger, “The Dead-Letter Office”, in Appletons’ Journal, volume X, number 242, New York, N.Y., page 595, column 1:
text: I suspect you write letters as hens lay eggs, find that Lady Hamilton finds them, envelopes them, puts them before you as official letters, and you direct them as per memorandum affixed.
ref: 1857 July 3, Augustus de Morgan, “[Correspondence between Sir William Rowan Hamilton and Professor Augustus De Morgan.] From A. De Morgan to Sir W. R. Hamilton.”, in Robert Perceval Graves, Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton, […]: Including Selections from His Poems, Correspondence, and Miscellaneous Writings (Dublin University Press Series), volume III, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, & Co., […]; London: Longmans, Green, & Co., […], published 1889, page 519:
text: It—the letter—was only an expression of the sender’s ardent desire to lend him, if not a minor, ten thousand pounds on his own security in the strictest confidence. To play his part out, he re-enveloped and pocketed it.
ref: 1919, William De Morgan, chapter XX, in The Old Madhouse, Toronto, Ont.: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent and Sons, Ltd., page 308:
text: Successes such as these have paved the way for our most recent marketing innovation. I refer to Canada Post edict No. 58291, stating that we will no longer redirect first-class mail without charge when households move. Ordering the new householder to re-envelope the mail and pay another 43 cents was a stroke of genius. New revenue potential is substantial — nearly 400,000 Canadians move to another province in any year and far more move within their province.
ref: 1993 February 25, Don Lander, “Curing Canadians of mail mania”, in The Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, Ont., published 1 March 1993, page A8:
text: It seems Royal Mail read Mrs Gowan's address label on the back of the envelopes, instead of the handwritten addresses on the front. / Desperate to get them to their intended destination before Christmas, Mrs Gowans re-enveloped the cards, bought new stamps and airmail stickers and sent them on their way, again.
ref: 2003 December 22, “Sister's return of post anguish”, in Evening Chronicle, Newcastle upon Tyne, archived from the original on 15 Jan 2024:
glosses: To put (something) in an envelope.
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