parcel: [14] Etymologically, parcel is the same word as particle. Both go back to Latin particula, a diminutive form of pars (source of English part). Particle [14] was acquired direct from Latin, whereas parcel was routed via an unrecorded Vulgar Latin variant *particella and Old French parcelle. It originally meant ‘part’ in English (a sense which survives in fossilized form in the phrase part and parcel); the modern meaning ‘package’ emerged in the 17th century via the notions of a ‘number of parts forming a whole’ and a ‘collection of items’. => part, particle
parcel (n.)
late 14c., "a portion of something, a part" (sense preserved in phrase parcel of land, c. 1400), from Old French parcele "small piece, particle, parcel," from Vulgar Latin *particella, extended form (via diminutive suffix, but not necessarily implying smallness) of Latin particula "small part, little bit," itself a diminutive of pars (genitive partis) "part" (see part (n.)).
Meaning "package" is first recorded 1640s, earlier "a quantity of goods in a package" (mid-15c.), from late 14c. sense of "an amount or quantity of anything." The expression part and parcel (early 15c.) also preserves the older sense; both words mean the same, the multiplicity is for emphasis.
parcel (v.)
"to divide into small portions," early 15c. (with out), from parcel (n.). Related: Parceled; parcelled; parceling; parcelling.
实用例句
1. It's all part and parcel— just a day's work really you know.
这只是一部分——才一天的工作，你要知道。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He had a large brown paper parcel under his left arm.
他左臂下夹着一个大牛皮纸邮包。
来自柯林斯例句
3. There's a parcel and some letters for you.
有你的一个包裹和几封信。
来自《权威词典》
4. Norma looked at the parcel and whistled softly through her teeth.
诺尔玛看着包裹,轻柔地哼起了口哨.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. Has the parcel been cleared with the border police yet ?
