par·cel

(pär′səl)

1. Something wrapped up or packaged; a package.

2. A plot of land, usually a division of a larger area.

3. A quantity of merchandise offered for sale.

4. A group or company; a pack: "this youthful parcel of noble bachelors" (Shakespeare).

tr.v. par·celed, par·cel·ing, par·cels also par·celled or par·cel·ling

1. To divide into parts and distribute: parceled out the land to their three children.

2. To make into a parcel; package.

3. Nautical To wind protective strips of canvas around (rope).

[Middle English, from Old French, portion, from Vulgar Latin *particella, diminutive of Latin particula, diminutive of pars, part-, part; see perə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

parceling - the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan; "the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives is based on the relative population of each state"

apportioning, apportionment, parcelling, assignation, allocation, allotment

grant, subsidisation, subsidization - the act of providing a subsidy

distribution - the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning

reallotment, reapportionment, reallocation - a new apportionment (especially a new apportionment of congressional seats in the United States on the basis of census results)

deal - the act of apportioning or distributing something; "the captain was entrusted with the deal of provisions"

rationing - the act of rationing; "during the war the government imposed rationing of food and gasoline"

parcel, portion, share - the allotment of some amount by dividing something; "death gets more than its share of attention from theologians"