1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Parcel

PARCEL (Fr. parcelle, Ital. particella, Lat. particula, diminutive of pars, part), a small part or division of anything; particularly, in the law of real property and conveyancing, a portion of a manor or estate, and so the name of that portion of a legal document, such as a conveyance or lease relating to lands, which contains a description of the estate dealt with. The word is also used of a package of goods contained in a wrapping or cover for transmission by carriage, &c., or by post; hence the term “parcel-post” for the branch of the post-office service which deals with the transmission of such packages. “Parcel” was formerly used in an adverbial or quasi-adverbial sense, meaning “partly,” “to some extent,” thus “parcel-Protestant,” “parcel-lawyer,” &c. This use survives in “parcel-gilt,” i.e. partly gilt, a term applied to articles made of silver with a gilt lining.