envelope
noun
en·ve·lope
ˈen-və-ˌlōp 
ˈän-
ˈän-
1
: a flat usually paper container (as for a letter)
3
a
: the outer covering of an aerostat
b
: the bag containing the gas in a balloon or airship
4
a
: a natural enclosing covering (such as a membrane, shell, or integument)
b
: a lipoprotein unit membrane that forms the outer layer of some virions
5
a
: a curve tangent to each of a family of curves
b
: a surface tangent to each of a family of surfaces
6
: a set of performance limits (as of an aircraft) that may not be safely exceeded
also
: the set of operating parameters that exists within these limits
7
: a conventionally accepted limit
new computers that push the envelope
How do you pronounce envelope?: Usage Guide
The \ˈen-\ and \ˈän-\ pronunciations are used with about equal frequency, and both are fully acceptable, though the \ˈän-\ version is sometimes decried as "pseudo-French." Actually \ˈän-\ is exactly what one would expect to hear when a French word like entrepreneur is becoming anglicized. Envelope, however, has been in English for nearly 300 years, plenty of time for it to become completely anglicized and for both of its pronunciations to win respectability.
Examples of envelope in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hence, in this digital age when many people no longer stock postage stamps or envelopes or have any idea where their nearest postal box might be, only the most irascible of curmudgeons would make the effort.
—
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2025
Each bag was packed with individual envelopes containing $500 in cash, the outlet reports.
—Madison E. Goldberg, People.com, 22 May 2025
Qualcomm's hardware is packaged as a discrete expansion card, similar to a laptop GPU housing, but outfitted with 32 AI cores, 64GB of onboard LPDDR4x memory, and a thermal envelope of up to 150 watts.
—Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 19 May 2025
Smaller sequences are broken up with jolting jump cuts: just the opening of an envelope, the work of a single second, includes three cuts.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for envelope
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Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2025
Each bag was packed with individual envelopes containing $500 in cash, the outlet reports.
—Madison E. Goldberg, People.com, 22 May 2025
Qualcomm's hardware is packaged as a discrete expansion card, similar to a laptop GPU housing, but outfitted with 32 AI cores, 64GB of onboard LPDDR4x memory, and a thermal envelope of up to 150 watts.
—Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 19 May 2025
Smaller sequences are broken up with jolting jump cuts: just the opening of an envelope, the work of a single second, includes three cuts.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for envelope
Cite this Entry
“Envelope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envelope. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
envelope
noun
en·ve·lope
ˈen-və-ˌlōp
ˈän-
ˈän-
1
: a flat usually paper container (as for a letter)
2
: something that envelops
3
: the bag containing the gas in a balloon or airship
4
: a natural enclosing covering (as a membrane)
Medical Definition
envelope
noun
en·ve·lope
ˈen-və-ˌlōp
ˈän-
ˈän-
: a natural enclosing covering (as a membrane or integument)
especially
: a lipoprotein unit membrane that forms the outer layer of some virions and surrounds the viral capsid
These glycoprotein complexes, swept up by the budding virus as it acquires its envelope, are crucial to HIV's ability to infect new cells. —William A. Haseltine et al., Scientific American
William A. Haseltine et al., Scientific American Love words? Need even more definitions?
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