Pakkynge

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The act of stowing goods, belongings or materials tightly into a case, bundle or container for storage or transport
2. Placing items closely together inside a box, bag or wrapping so they are gathered and secured for carrying
3. The process of filling a receptacle or wrapping with wares or provisions so they are compactly arranged and protected

Etymology: "Pakkynge" is a Middle English word, the verbal noun of "pakken," meaning to pack, press together or cram. The root is related to Middle Dutch "pac" and Middle Low German "pak," the bundle or load a person carried, which is also the ancestor of modern "pack." The word is attested in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when English was still shaping its vocabulary for trade and travel, and it names the activity of fitting goods into a bundle, chest or cask. Its spelling shows the Middle English habit of writing "k" for the hard sound and "y" for the vowel, which later scribes and printers gradually replaced with the modern "packing." Its meaning stayed close to the physical sense: the work of pressing wares tightly into a container so they travel or keep well, which is why the word appears in merchants' accounts and household records.