courriel
1) A personal email message, as opposed to a business or commercial email message.
2) A love letter, billet doux, or personal missive sent electronically.
In English, this word was adopted from French due to the lack of distinction between personal and business email usage; the French word simply means "email". In 2003, the Académie Française (French Academy) chose "le courriel" - pronounced "koo ryehl" - as the official French word for "email," but that does not necessarily mean the French person on the street uses it regularly. As noted in the second definition, in English the word can imply a romantic or deeply personal message.
2) A love letter, billet doux, or personal missive sent electronically.
In English, this word was adopted from French due to the lack of distinction between personal and business email usage; the French word simply means "email". In 2003, the Académie Française (French Academy) chose "le courriel" - pronounced "koo ryehl" - as the official French word for "email," but that does not necessarily mean the French person on the street uses it regularly. As noted in the second definition, in English the word can imply a romantic or deeply personal message.
I received a few unexpected courriels today from friends, all of which brightened my day.