parcel Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a wrapped container
package.
noun the allotment of some amount by dividing something
portion; share.
- death gets more than its share of attention from theologians
noun an extended area of land
piece of land; piece of ground; parcel of land; tract.
noun a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
packet; bundle; package.
verb divide into parts
- The developers parceled the land
verb cover with strips of canvas
- parcel rope
verb make into a wrapped container

F. parcelle a small part, fr. (assumed) LL. particella, dim. of L. pars. See Part, n., and cf. Particle.

A portion of anything taken separately; a fragment of a whole; a part. Archaic "A parcel of her woe." Chaucer.
Two parcels of the white of an egg. Arbuthnot.

The parcels of the nation adopted different forms of self-government. J. A. Symonds.
(Law) A part; a portion; a piece; as, a certain piece of land is part and parcel of another piece.
An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.
This youthful parcel Of noble bachelors stand at my disposing. Shak.
A number or quantity of things put up together; a bundle; a package; a packet.
'Tis like a parcel sent you by the stage. Cowper.

imperfect & past participle Parceled or Parcelled; present participle & verbal noun Parceling or Parcelling

To divide and distribute by parts or portions; -- often with out or into. "Their woes are parceled, mine are general." Shak.
These ghostly kings would parcel out my power. Dryden.

The broad woodland parceled into farms. Tennyson.
To add a parcel or item to; to itemize. R.
That mine own servant should Parcel the sum of my disgraces by Addition of his envy. Shak.
To make up into a parcel; as, to parcel a customer's purchases; the machine parcels yarn, wool, etc.

Part or half; in part; partially. Shak. [Sometimes hyphened with the word following.]
The worthy dame was parcel-blind. Sir W. Scott.

One that . . . was parcel-bearded [partially bearded]. Tennyson.
B. Jonson.