parcel

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
parcel/ˈpɑːsl/

▶noun

• 1 an object or collection of objects wrapped in paper in order to be carried or sent by post.

• 2 a quantity or amount of something, in particular land.

▶verb (parcels, parcelling, parcelled; US parcels, parceling, parceled)

• 1 make (something) into a parcel by wrapping it.

• 2 (parcel something out) divide something into portions and then distribute it.

• 3 Nautical wrap (rope) with strips of tarred canvas to reduce chafing.

– origin ME: from OFr. parcelle, from L. particula ‘small part’.