The Rice University Neologisms Database

An invitation sent over the internet, as opposed to regular postal mail (n.); the act of inviting in such a manner (v.) E-vite follows the same format as e-mail, meaning electronic mail. There is a tendency with regard to the internet to add the e- prefix from electronic to a normal word, in order to indicate that it is done online. Hence, e-vite has grown out of the standard meaning of invite (e.g., to a party), but is distinct from invite because it is done in a specific way, through e-mail or otherwise online.