Parcel

/[ˈpʰɑː.səɫ]/ adv, noun, verb

adv, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A package wrapped for shipment.

    "I saw a brown paper parcel on my doorstep."

  2. 2
    the allotment of some amount by dividing something wordnet
  3. 3
    An individual consignment of cargo for shipment, regardless of size and form.
  4. 4
    a wrapped container wordnet
  5. 5
    An individual item appearing on an invoice or receipt (only in the phrase bill of parcels).
Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    a collection of things wrapped or boxed together wordnet
  2. 7
    A division of land bought and sold as a unit.

    "I own a small parcel of land between the refinery and the fish cannery."

  3. 8
    an extended area of land wordnet
  4. 9
    A group of birds. obsolete
  5. 10
    An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.

    "[…] this youthful parcel / Of noble bachelors stand at my bestowing,"

  6. 11
    A small amount of food that has been wrapped up, for example a pastry.
  7. 12
    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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To wrap something up into the form of a package.
  2. 2
    make into a wrapped container wordnet
  3. 3
    To wrap a strip around the end of a rope.

    "Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way."

  4. 4
    cover with strips of canvas wordnet
  5. 5
    To divide and distribute by parts or portions; often with off, out or into.

    "Their woes are parcell’d, mine are general."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    divide into parts wordnet
  2. 7
    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!"

Adverb
  1. 1
    Part or half; in part; partially. not-comparable, obsolete

    "Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt goblet […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
packagepackageplottractpatcha certain number

Example

More examples

"Send this parcel to him in care of his company."

Etymology

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.

Related phrases

air parcelbill of parcelsparcel bombparcel giltparcel lockerparcel outparcel postparcel shelfparcel tapeparcel togetherparcel upparcel-poet

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.