mailpiece

English

Etymology

From mail +‎ piece; part of the business jargon of postal services and mail marketers for more than a century, but not common among the general public until the 21st century.

Noun

mailpiece (plural mailpieces)

1. (chiefly Canada, US) (countable) A piece of mail, that is, an item of (physical) mail; especially, an item of flat envelope form factor as contrasted with an item of package form factor.

   Coordinate terms: package (usually coordinate rather than hyponymous); email, mail

   You have 0 mailpiece(s) and 1 inbound package(s) arriving soon. [U.S. Postal Service Informed Delivery email of the 2020s]

   • 1995 April, Anthony F. Stuart, Technical Association of the Graphic Arts, Proceedings, page 442:

     Each mailjob is composed of pages that go into a single envelope. These are called mailpieces.

   • 2002, Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Fundraising, page 316:

     The name and return address of the authorized nonprofit organization must be either on the outside of the mailpiece or in a prominent location