From Middle English parcel, from Old French parcelle (“a small piece or part, a parcel, a particle”), from Late Latin particella, diminutive of Latin particula (“particle”), diminutive of partem (“part, piece”). Doublet of particle.
Meanings
(not-comparable, obsolete) Part or half; in part; partially.
[…] as the worthy dame was parcel blind and more than parcel deaf, knowledge was excluded by two principal entrances […] 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 120:
Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt goblet […] c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
here was one [a hut] that, summer-blanch’d, / Was parcel-bearded with the traveller’s-joy / In Autumn, parcel ivy-clad; 1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 59:
From Middle English parcel, from Old French parcelle (“a small piece or part, a parcel, a particle”), from Late Latin particella, diminutive of Latin particula (“particle”), diminutive of partem (“part, piece”). Doublet of particle.
Meanings
A package wrapped, as for shipment or transport.
I saw a brown paper parcel on my doorstep.
“H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]” 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkly, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, sprinkling crumbs lavishly[…]on the floor. 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
An individual consignment of cargo for shipment, regardless of size and form.
An individual item appearing on an invoice or receipt (only in the phrase bill of parcels).
A division of land bought and sold as a unit.
I own a small parcel of land between the refinery and the fish cannery.
(obsolete) A group of birds.
An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.
[…] this youthful parcel / Of noble bachelors stand at my bestowing, c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
[…] instead of sitting (as she ought to have done) by her good father and mother, she must needs run up into the gallery, and sit with a parcel of giddy creatures of her own age […] 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, chapter 2, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 79:
"Come, now," said the hill-man, "let us hear who else is to be at the christening?" "Ah," said the boy, "we are to have a great parcel of strangers and great people." 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 195:
A small amount of food that has been wrapped up, for example a pastry.
A portion of anything taken separately; a fragment of a whole; a part.
A certain piece of land is part and parcel of another piece.
I don't think we are sitting pretty / So far away from our fair city / But I love you more than any parcel of earth. 1982 April 3, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower”, in Gay Community News, page 15:
1881, John Addington Symonds, The Renaissance in Italy, Volume 5, Part I, New York: Henry Holt, Chapter 1, p. 2,
The parcels of the nation adopted different forms of self-government, sought divers foreign alliances.
The same Experiments succeed on two Parcels of the White of an Egg […] 1731, John Arbuthnot, chapter 4, in An essay concerning the nature of aliments, London: J. Tonson, page 85:
sq parcelë (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · kk сәлем-сауқат (package wrapped for shipment) · ky посылка (package wrapped for shipment) · vi bưu kiện (package wrapped for shipment) · el δέμα (package wrapped for shipment) · pl przesyłka (package wrapped for shipment) · id parsel (package wrapped for shipment) · nl pakket (package wrapped for shipment) · he חֲבִילָה (package wrapped for shipment) · it plico (package wrapped for shipment) · ko 소포 (package wrapped for shipment) · hi पार्सल (package wrapped for shipment) · ru бандеро́ль (package wrapped for shipment) · ar رِزْمَة (package wrapped for shipment) · ro parcelă (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · hy ծանրոց (package wrapped for shipment) · sh по̀шӣљка (package wrapped for shipment) · lo ພັດສະດຸ (package wrapped for shipment) · tk paket (package wrapped for shipment) · th ห่อพัสดุ (package wrapped for shipment) · tg бандерол (package wrapped for shipment) · fr paquet (package wrapped for shipment) · be пасы́лка (package wrapped for shipment) · cmn 包裹 (package wrapped for shipment) · hu parcella (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · sh pòšīljka (package wrapped for shipment) · cmn 郵包 /邮包 (package wrapped for shipment) · sl pošiljka (package wrapped for shipment) · vi gói (package wrapped for shipment) · ml പാഴ്സൽ (package wrapped for shipment) · ky пакет (package wrapped for shipment) · sq pako (package wrapped for shipment) · pt pacote (package wrapped for shipment) · ru паке́т (package wrapped for shipment) · km កញ្ចប់ (package wrapped for shipment) · hu csomag (package wrapped for shipment) · id petak (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · ta பார்சல் (package wrapped for shipment) · nb parsell (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · cs parcela (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · ro lot (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · sk balík (package wrapped for shipment) · prs پارسل (package wrapped for shipment) · da pakke (package wrapped for shipment) · my ပါဆယ် (package wrapped for shipment) · nb pakke (package wrapped for shipment) · it pacchetto (package wrapped for shipment) · az banderol (package wrapped for shipment) · mi mōkī (package wrapped for shipment) · es paquete (package wrapped for shipment) · eo pakaĵo (package wrapped for shipment) · cs balík (package wrapped for shipment) · ka ამანათი (package wrapped for shipment) · mk пакет (package wrapped for shipment) · ko 구획 (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · ar طَرْد (package wrapped for shipment) · hy փաթեթ (package wrapped for shipment) · az bağlama (package wrapped for shipment) · kk пакет (package wrapped for shipment) · sl paket (package wrapped for shipment) · pt lote (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · pl parcela (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · fr parcelle (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · tl parsela (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · bn মোড়ক (package wrapped for shipment) · et pakk (package wrapped for shipment) · fi palsta (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · sv tomt (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · kk сәлемдеме (package wrapped for shipment) · fa بسته (package wrapped for shipment) · es parcela (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · az paket (package wrapped for shipment) · fi tontti (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · tr kesir (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · bg паке́т (package wrapped for shipment) · nn parsell (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · mn боодол (package wrapped for shipment) · la fascis (package wrapped for shipment) · fi paketti (package wrapped for shipment) · es hatajo (indiscriminate number, collection, group) · ja 荷物 (package wrapped for shipment) · bg коле́т (package wrapped for shipment) · ja 地割 (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · tg пакет (package wrapped for shipment) · pdt Pak (package wrapped for shipment) · uz posilka (package wrapped for shipment) · my အထုပ် (package wrapped for shipment) · sv paket (package wrapped for shipment) · es encomienda (package wrapped for shipment) · ro colet (package wrapped for shipment) · uk поси́лка (package wrapped for shipment) · de Paket (package wrapped for shipment) · ca parcel·la (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · ar رُزْمَة (package wrapped for shipment) · hi भूखंड (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · pt encomenda (package wrapped for shipment) · lv paka (package wrapped for shipment) · it lotto (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · lt paketas (package wrapped for shipment) · ru уча́сток (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · pl paczka (package wrapped for shipment) · de Parzelle (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · uz paket (package wrapped for shipment) · ru посы́лка (package wrapped for shipment) · tr koli (package wrapped for shipment) · eu pakete (package wrapped for shipment) · mk колет (package wrapped for shipment) · is pakki (package wrapped for shipment) · pt terreno (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · gl parcela (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · ur پارسل (package wrapped for shipment) · ca paquet (package wrapped for shipment) · th พัสดุ (package wrapped for shipment) · ja 包み (package wrapped for shipment) · th ห่อของ (package wrapped for shipment) · ro pachet (package wrapped for shipment) · ko 꾸러미 (package wrapped for shipment) · fr colis (package wrapped for shipment) · ja 小包み (package wrapped for shipment) · it parcella (division of land bought and sold as a unit) · nl perceel (division of land bought and sold as a unit)
From Middle English parcel, from Old French parcelle (“a small piece or part, a parcel, a particle”), from Late Latin particella, diminutive of Latin particula (“particle”), diminutive of partem (“part, piece”). Doublet of particle.
Meanings
To wrap something up into the form of a package.
To wrap a strip around the end of a rope.
Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
To divide and distribute by parts or portions; often with off, out or into.
Their woes are parcell’d, mine are general. c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
Thoſe ghoſtly Kings would parcel out my pow’r, / And all the fatneſs of my Land devour; 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 12:
Then the great Hall was wholly broken down, / And the broad woodland parcell’d into farms; 1864, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, etc., London: Edward Moxon, pages 94–95:
Hindostan was then parcelled out into twelve grand divisions, called soobahs, to each of which a viceroy was assigned, by the title of Soobahdar, corruptly written Soobah by European writers; for, soobah signifies province: many of these soobahs were in extent equal to large European kingdoms. 1806, [Thomas Maurice], Indian Antiquities: Or, Dissertations Relative to the Antient Geographical Divisions, […] of Hindostan: […] , volume I. Containing the Dissertation on the Antient Geographical Divisions of Hindostan, London: Printed […] by C. & W. Galabin […] and sold by John White […] , pages 231–232:
To add a parcel or item to; to itemize.
[…] that mine own servant should / Parcel the sum of my disgraces by / Addition of his envy! c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
it impacchettare (to wrap into a package) · es embalar (to wrap into a package) · fi paketoida (to wrap into a package) · ca empaquetar (to wrap into a package) · bg пакетирам (to wrap into a package) · pt empacotar (to wrap into a package) · es parcelar (to divide and distribute by portions) · mg mamono (to wrap into a package) · fr emballer (to wrap into a package) · fr envelopper (to wrap into a package) · fr empaqueter (to wrap into a package) · ca embalar (to wrap into a package)