English
parcel
Parcel comes from Old French parcelle ‘a small piece or part, a parcel, a particle’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *partis.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparsas partem, diminutive‘part, piece’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEparticula‘particle’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEparticella‘small portion’diminutive of particula
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400parcelle‘a small piece or part, a parcel, a particle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500parcel
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1593same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*partis‘part’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparsas partem, diminutive‘part, piece’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEparticula‘particle’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEparticella‘small portion’diminutive of particula
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400parcelle‘a small piece or part, a parcel, a particle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500parcel
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1593same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “Their woes are parcell’d, mine are general.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- ‘to grant’
expert, empire, experiment, imperial, repair, preparation, partisan, parental, para, parity, imperium, imperious, rampart, pare, 31 more
through Proto-Italic *partis ‘part’
party, participate, participation, partial, partition, depart, impart, particularity, repartee, parter, 13 more
through Latin pars ‘part, piece’
through Latin particula ‘particle’
Today it means
noun A package wrapped, as for shipment or transport.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *partis / parcel