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A message in its most general meaning is an object of communication. It is something which provides information; it can also be this information itself. Therefore, its meaning is dependent upon the context in which it is used; the term may apply to both the information and its form. A communiqué is a brief report or statement released by a public agency.

More precisely, in communications science, a message is information which is sent from a source to a receiver. Some common definitions include:

• Any thought or idea expressed briefly in a plain or secret language, prepared in a form suitable for transmission by any means of communication.
• An arbitrary amount of information whose beginning and end are defined or implied.

In communication between humans, messages can be verbal or nonverbal:

• A verbal message is an exchange of information using words. Examples include face-to-face communication, telephone calls, voicemails, etc.
• A nonverbal message is communicated through actions or behaviors rather than words. Examples include body signals and actions made by an individual.

There are two main senses of the word "message" in computer science: messages passed within software, which may or may not be human-readable, and human-readable messages delivered via computer software for person-to-person communication.

• Message passing is a form of communication used in concurrent and parallel computing, object-oriented programming, and interprocess communication, where communication is made by sending messages to recipients. In a related use of this sense of a message, in object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk or Java, a message is sent to an object, specifying a request for action.

• Instant messaging and e-mail are examples of computer software designed for delivering human-readable messages in formatted or unformatted text, from one person to another.

• Airmail
• Electronic mail
• Express mail
• Homing pigeons
• Instant messaging
• Radio
• Semaphore
• Smoke signals
• Steamshipping
• Telegraphy
• Telephony
• Television
• Text messaging
• Wind-powered shipping

• A brief history of messaging through the ages