What does voicemail mean?
Voicemail is a telephone message recorded for someone who cannot be reached, usually through a network or device that stores the recording for later playback. The word is also used as a verb, as in “leave a voicemail,” although the noun form is by far the most common. Voicemail became especially familiar through mobile phones, answering services, and automated business greetings, but it is not limited to mobile use: landlines, office systems, and messaging apps may all provide it. In everyday speech, the term usually refers to a personal recording rather than the machine or service that stores it. Its meaning has broadened in contemporary usage to include audio messages transmitted through messaging applications, even when no conventional telephone call is involved. As a verb, it means to leave or send a recorded message.
A recorded telephone message left for someone who could not be reached; by extension, the service that stores such messages for later playback.
"I received your voicemail and will return the call tomorrow."
The count noun normally refers to one recording. The uncount use can refer to the service or to messages collectively.
To leave or send a recorded message for someone through a telephone or voice-message service.
"Please voicemail me with your address before Friday."
This verbal use is much less common than the noun and is especially associated with American English.
The regular plural is used for separate recorded messages.
"I left three voicemails for her, but she did not return any of them."
Voicemail turns the missed call that once vanished into a message you can replay whenever you choose.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of voicemail
Voicemail is an English compound formed from voice and mail, combining the idea of a spoken message with the older technology of sending written messages for later delivery. Its development followed the spread of telephone answering machines and later electronic voicemail services. Voice ultimately derives from Latin vox, meaning “voice,” while mail belongs to the older English vocabulary of messages and correspondence.
Related word forms
How voicemail is actually used
Voicemail is especially common in American English but is now widely used in British English and other varieties. It may denote an individual recording, the service as a count noun, or recorded messages collectively as an uncount noun.
Easily confused with voicemail
An answering machine is the device or service that records calls, whereas a voicemail is an individual recorded message.