# parcel

> English word · Noun · IPA [ˈpʰɑː.səɫ] · frequency rank #11,757

## Definitions
1. A package wrapped for shipment.
2. An individual consignment of cargo for shipment, regardless of size and form.
3. An individual item appearing on an invoice or receipt (only in the phrase bill of parcels).
4. A division of land bought and sold as a unit.
5. A group of birds.
6. An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.
7. A small amount of food that has been wrapped up, for example a pastry.
8. A portion of anything taken separately; a fragment of a whole; a part.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **pare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-pare)
- **Patel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-patel)
- **Pavel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-pavel)
- **parse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parse)
- **pared** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-pared)
- **Parker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parker)
- **parked** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parked)
- **Pearce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-pearce)
- **parted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parted)
- **pascal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-pascal)
- **pastel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-pastel)
- **parser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parser)
- **parley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parley)
- **parcels** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parcels)
- **Purcell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-purcell)
- **Parnell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parnell)
- **parched** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parcel-vs-parched)
- **pace** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pace-vs-parcel)
- **panel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/panel-vs-parcel)
- **paced** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/paced-vs-parcel)

## Common misspellings (9)
`aprcel`, `pacrel`, `parccel`, `parcell`, `parcle`, `parecl`, `parrcel`, `pparcel`, `pracel`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/parcel