"written account of the particulars and prices of merchandise shipped or sent," 1550s, apparently from a re-Latinized form of Middle French envois, plural of envoi "dispatch (of goods)," literally "a sending," from envoyer "to send," from Vulgar Latin *inviare "send on one's way," from Latin in "on" (from PIE root *en "in") + via "road" (see via (adv.)). As a verb, 1690s, from the noun.
