Parcel

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: [ˈpʰɑː.səɫ]

Definitions

1. A portion of land or an item wrapped and prepared for delivery or mailing
2. A segment of property or a package that has been securely enclosed for the purposes of shipping or transport
3. A defined area of land or an object that is enclosed for shipping or mailing to a specific destination

Etymology: The word "parcel" began as a piece of something larger. Its ancestor is the Latin "partem," meaning "part" or "piece," which gave rise to the diminutive "particula," a tiny part, the source of English "particle." Latin speakers then formed "particella," a still smaller piece, and by the time it reached Old French as "parcelle" it meant a small piece, part, or particle of something. The sense of a wrapped bundle came later, once the idea of a piece set aside or allotted spread into commerce. English borrowed the word from Old French in the Middle English period, where it first meant a portion or share of something, and it kept that sense of a bounded piece of land or a section of a larger whole. Its reference to a wrapped or delivered package developed from the notion of a separate, allotted portion. The word is a doublet of "particle," meaning the two English words descend from the same Latin source by different routes.

Synonyms: package, bundle, packet, box