parcel
Americannoun
-
an object, article, container, or quantity of something wrapped or packed up; small package; bundle.
-
a quantity or unit of something, as of a commodity for sale; lot.
-
a group, collection, or assemblage of persons or things.
- Synonyms:
- assortment, batch
-
a distinct, continuous portion or tract of land.
-
a part, portion, or fragment.
verb (used with object)
adverb
noun
-
something wrapped up; package
-
a group of people or things having some common characteristic
-
a quantity of some commodity offered for sale; lot
-
a distinct portion of land
-
an essential part of something (esp in the phrase part and parcel )
verb
-
(often foll by up) to make a parcel of; wrap up
-
(often foll by out) to divide (up) into portions
-
nautical to bind strips of canvas around (a rope)
adverb
Synonym Usage
See package.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of parcel
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French parcelle, from unattested Late Latin particella, fresh formation for Latin particula; see particle, passel
Explanation
A parcel is a part of something, or a division. It can also be a package or a collection of things wrapped together. Parcel comes from the Anglo-Norman word for "part." Often when we use parcel to mean a part, we're talking about land, which is divided into definable (and purchasable) tracts. As a verb, parcel means to divide something into parts, just as after trick-or-treating you might parcel your candy stash into piles of chocolates, peppermints, or toffees. If you're selling the family farm, you might parcel it into four small plots.
Vocabulary lists containing parcel
"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Revolution in Our Time
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Extreme heat is part and parcel of our lives these days, and we must adapt to it,” Langer said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
“That’s part and parcel of the job,” Connor says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
China’s higher parcel volume also seems resilient, given the company’s full-year guidance of 10% growth and muted sector growth, they add.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
"It's such a large parcel of land in our National Park and it's come up for sale at this time so there's a little bit of urgency to get the ball rolling," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
On numerous occasions as she passed on errands, Cora overheard him lobby for the redistribution of her parcel.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
She runs an organisation supporting other women who have been detained, and, using a secret network, helps send parcels from families to those still in captivity.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
The EU has taken several measures to confront soaring imports from China including doubling its duties on foreign steel, slapping higher levies on small parcels from abroad and hefty tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
In this case, the proposed BID encompasses more than 160 parcels that are owned by more than 70 property owners within the “flats” area adjacent to a series of railroad tracks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
This market-driven renewal filled vacant lots and derelict sites, reduced blight, converted nonperforming parcels into taxpaying assets and created billions of dollars in new wealth for existing homeowners, with little evidence of widespread displacement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
While Leopard was busy trying on her new dress, Guinea Fowl and Wild Cat crept round to the place where the parcels were stored and they took the leaves off Goat’s children.
From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith
The acres parceled out for Stratos all lie on private, unzoned property, and the landowners there had already granted their blessing.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
Certain credits are parceled out quarterly or even monthly, and premium cards can have the feel of a coupon book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Situated on the sunny second floor, it was one of four flats parceled out in the 1950s from a 14th-century Tuscan estate, Villa di Marignolle, that once belonged to the Medicis.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
I could keep the condition in check by feeding him small meals six to eight times a day, a tablespoon of the prescription dry food parceled out one pea-sized piece at a time.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2024
She kept 48 hives strewn through the woods around the pink house, and another 280 were parceled out on various farms, in river yards and upland swamps.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
In the run-up to “One Battle After Another,” DiCaprio played the traditional role of the elusive movie star, parceling out access and promotional appearances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
As he grew in each, he assumed the role of the lovelord, parceling it out to all he came across while saving just enough for himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2022
Front-line nurses, already parceling out a few minutes an hour to each patient under their care, say juggling unfamiliar products or adjusting to workarounds makes their jobs even more fraught.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2022
Narrative agency is what interests the author, her manner of parceling out information evoking at times the fragmentary and diaristic sensibilities of Jenny Offill’s “Dept. of Speculation.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2020
"I'm thinking of parceling off portions of my brain," I once told her.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Camelot, which has run the lottery since it was launched in 1994, has nothing to do with the way the money is parcelled out.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2021
Just open up a page and experience the meditative calm of reading alphabetized lists that are parcelled into neat little sections.
From Slate ● Feb. 14, 2020
Indeed, American cultural history could probably be parcelled out as a sequence of sensational murder cases.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 8, 2019
The Ottomans’ former Arab possessions were parcelled out as “mandates” under the new League of Nations: France got Syria and Lebanon while Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan went to Britain.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 16, 2017
That first captain walled their promontory, built their homes and shrines, and parcelled out the black land for the plow.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Congo-Brazzaville's government has already begun parcelling out blocks of land and looking for potential investors, although there is some uncertainty about the extent and significance of the oil reserves.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2022
Given all this filtering and parcelling out, it’s not surprising that memory is imperfect.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2014
And once you begin parcelling out roles rather than wrapping them together in a single nightmare bundle, it gets rather easier to find George Entwistle's successor.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 18, 2012
Popular in Czechoslovakia is the Government's policy of seizing the broad acres of great nobles and parcelling them out among the poor.
From Time Magazine Archive
At that time we find the Euphrates Valley divided into a series of states or principalities, parcelling North and South Babylonia between them.
From The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria by Jastrow, Morris
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
