the
w h o l e
Nchilada

SOME HAVE INQUIRED AS TO THE MEANING OF THE N in Nvelope. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary 'n' is 'to any extent, to the utmost'. You may also recall it from high school Algebra ('solve for n') where it stood for an unknown quantity - something yet to be determined. Our N derives from these 'n's of old. Think "n th degree".

ASIDE from mail (which increasingly is being delivered to neighborhood cluster-boxes or super-boxes a short distance [read: 'drive' (!)] away from the home) there's a whole world of objects that can and will arrive at (or depart from) your door. While there, they may require sanctuary from the elements, or at least shelter from prying eyes. We like to refer to this as N-mail.

SO IT FOLLOWS that Nvelope is more than a mailbox. It's an Nclosed Nvironment into which can be Ntrusted the Ntire spectrum of Ntities requiring Ntrance to or egress from your Ncampment.
(We channelled Niles Crane in order to write that last sentence).