parcel

Parcel comes from Middle English parcel, borrowed from Old French parcelle, meaning a small piece or part. That French word traces back to Late Latin particella, a diminutive of Latin particula, itself a diminutive of partem, meaning 'part' or 'piece.'

The word arrived in English already carrying the sense of a small portion or piece, a meaning that shrank in scope but not much in spirit as it came to describe a wrapped package.

Parcel is a doublet of particle — the two words descend from the same Latin root, particula, having traveled to English by different paths.