An envelope is something that envelops, or wraps around. It usually refers to the thing you stick a stamp on and snail mail.
In the early 1700s, envelope, the noun for "wrapper," evolved from the French enveloppe, meaning “to envelop.” Envelope is always a noun, unlike the verb envelop which means “to wrap, cloak.” Synonyms for envelope range from casing and enclosure to pouch and sheath. Virginia Woolf said, “Life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning.” She ditched hers by walking into a river with her pockets full of rocks.
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a flat (usually rectangular) container for a letter, thin package, etc.
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2 |
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a curve that is tangent to each of a family of curves
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3 |
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the maximum operating capability of a system (especially an aircraft)
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