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PlainSpell

parcel

par·cel/ˈpɑɹsəl/noun, verb

parcel is a noun meaning “A package wrapped, as for shipment or transport” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled P-A-R-C-E-L and has 2 syllables (par·cel), and it appears 4.7 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of parcel is parcels.

What does parcel mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A package wrapped, as for shipment or transport.

    I saw a brown paper parcel on my doorstep.

  2. 2

    An individual consignment of cargo for shipment, regardless of size and form.

  3. 3

    An individual item appearing on an invoice or receipt (only in the phrase bill of parcels).

  4. 4

    A division of land bought and sold as a unit.

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

  5. 5

    obsoleteA group of birds.

  6. 6

    An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.

  7. 7

    A small amount of food that has been wrapped up, for example a pastry.

  8. 8

    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

    To wrap a strip around the end of a rope.

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

  3. 3

    To divide and distribute by parts or portions; often with off, out or into.

  4. 4

    To add a parcel or item to; to itemize.

adverb

  1. 1

    obsoletePart or half; in part; partially.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce parcel?

  • UK [ˈpʰɑː.səɫ]
  • US /ˈpɑɹsəl/
  • US [ˈpʰɑɹ.səɫ]

Parcel has 2 syllables, split par·cel in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-parcel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of parcel

  • parcels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • parceling US, participle, present
  • parcelling UK, participle, present
  • parceled US, participle, past
  • parcelled UK, participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is parcel?

Parcel appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Parcel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcolis, paquet (package wrapped for shipment), parcelle (division of land bought and sold as a unit), empaqueter, emballer, envelopper (to wrap into a package)
GermanPaket (package wrapped for shipment), Parzelle (division of land bought and sold as a unit)
Portuguesepacote, encomenda (package wrapped for shipment), lote, terreno (division of land bought and sold as a unit), empacotar (to wrap into a package)
Spanishpaquete, encomienda (package wrapped for shipment), parcela (division of land bought and sold as a unit), embalar (to wrap into a package), hatajo (indiscriminate number, collection, group), parcelar (to divide and distribute by portions)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does parcel come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).