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package

Etymology and origin of the English word package

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1540
Ultimate origin
English (pack,-age)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English pack
English package

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpæk.ɪdʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English pack + -age,[2][3][4] or from the related Dutch pakkage “baggage”, which MWU gives as the probable source,[2][5] itself formed on the model of bagage.[5] It is related to pack and baggage.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The packing of goods, or the way goods are packed: 1540 in the OED, the 1530s in Etymonline, about 1540 in MWU.[6][2][5] Barnhart has it in Cotgrave's dictionary in 1611.[3]

Semantic evolution

Things packed together, a cargo, is from 1669 and is obsolete.[6] The main modern sense, a bundle or parcel, is from 1722.[2][3][6] A set of acts in a variety show or on television is from 1931,[6] and a package deal, a transaction agreed to as a whole, from 1952.[2][3] The verb, to make into a package, is from 1915 in Etymonline, 1928 in the OED and Barnhart.[2][6][3]

Timeline

  • 1540 – the packing of goods.[6]
  • 1722 – a parcel.[2][6]
  • 1915 – verb.[2]
  • 1931 – a set of acts in a show.[6]
  • 1952 – package deal.[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An object or objects wrapped in paper or packed in a box; a parcel.
  2. A box or container in which goods are sold.
  3. A set of things offered or agreed together: a pay package.
  4. (computing) A set of programs sold together.

Verb

  1. To put into a package.
  2. To present something or someone in an attractive way, as for sale.

Word family

  • packager
  • packageable
  • subpackage
  • mispackage
  • prepackage
  • repackage
  • care package
  • package deal

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Package.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/package. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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