Envelope Definition

Contents

• 1 English
  • 1.1 Pronunciation
  • 1.2 Noun
    • 1.2.1 Derived terms
    • 1.2.2 Synonyms
    • 1.2.3 Translations
  • 1.3 See also

English

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈɛn.və.ləʊp/, /ˈɒn.və.ləʊp/; SAMPA: /"En.v@.lop/, /"Qn.v@.l@Up/

  Audio 1 (UK)
  (file)

  Audio 2 (UK)
  (file)

• (GenAm) enPR: ĕn'və-lōp, ŏn'və-lōp; IPA: /ˈɛnvəloʊp/, /ˈɑnvəloʊp/; SAMPA: /"Env@lop/, /Anv@lop/

  Audio 1 (US)
  (file)

  Audio 2 (US)
  (file)

Noun

envelope (plural envelopes)

1. A paper or cardboard wrapper used to enclose small, flat items, especially letters, for mailing.
2. Something that envelops; a wrapping
3. A bag containing the lifting gas of a balloon or airship; fabric that encloses the gas-bags of an airship.
   • 1992 Lieutenant Colonel Donald E. Ryan, Jr, The airship's potential for intertheater and intratheater airlift, DIANE Publishing, page 46:

     They have no internal or external support structure, being simply a fabric bag (or envelope) filled with a lighter than air gas. Inside the envelope are one or more "ballonets", or smaller bags, which help maintain the envelope's shape.

4. (geometry) A mathematical curve, surface, or higher-dimensional object that is the tangent to a given family of lines, curves, surfaces, or higher-dimensional objects.
5. (electronics) A curve that bounds another curve or set of curves, as the modulation envelope of an amplitude-modulated carrier wave in electronics.
6. (music) The shape of a sound, which may be controlled by a synthesizer or sampler.
7. (computing) The information used for routing an email that is transmitted with the email but not part of its contents.
8. (biology) An enclosing structure or cover, such as a membrane.
9. (engineering) The set of limitations within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively.

Derived terms

• envelope detector
• envelope paradox
• padded envelope
• push the envelope
• return envelope
• window envelope

Synonyms

• (something that envelops): wrapper
• (bag containing the lifting gas): gasbag

See also

• envelop (verb)
• Wikipedia article on envelopes used for mailing
• Wikipedia article on envelopes in geometry

Related 'Envelope' Searches:

See Also:

• Envelope