parcel
/ˈpɑɹsəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.67 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An individual consignment of cargo for shipment, regardless of size and form.
noun
An individual item appearing on an invoice or receipt (only in the phrase bill of parcels).
noun
An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.
noun
A small amount of food that has been wrapped up, for example a pastry.
Example Sentences
- "I saw a brown paper parcel on my doorstep."
- "At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkly, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, sprinkling crumbs lavishly[…]on the floor."
- "“H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”"
- "I own a small parcel of land between the refinery and the fish cannery."
- "[…] this youthful parcel / Of noble bachelors stand at my bestowing,"
- ""Come, now," said the hill-man, "let us hear who else is to be at the christening?" "Ah," said the boy, "we are to have a great parcel of strangers and great people.""
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɑɹsəl/
- British English: [ˈpʰɑː.səɫ]