packet English · revision 39686

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=?a1450, Miracles of Our Lady}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈpæk.ɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈpæk.ɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is apparently [[af|en|pack|-et]], a diminutive of the noun ''pack'',^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Ayto 2005) perhaps modelled on or formed in [[xno|paket]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010) which the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records from 1176, as a surname.^(AND) The OED finds it hard to tell whether the English word was borrowed from [[m|frm|pacquet]] (1368) or the French word from English, or whether both were formed independently.^(OED 2026) Barnhart notes that the OED and the FEW favour an English origin for the French word, while the MED treats the Middle English word as a borrowing from Old French.^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster derives it from Middle French, from the verb [[m|frm|pacquer|t=to pack]], ultimately from [[dum|pak]],^(MWU 2024) and Etymonline and Klein call the French word a diminutive of the Middle Dutch noun or of a related continental Germanic word.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) Weekley took it as Anglo-Norman, the source of [[m|fr|paquet]], [[it|pacchetto]] and [[es|paquete]].^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small pack, package or parcel: before about 1450, in a Middle English collection of Miracles of Our Lady,^(OED 2026) where Barnhart reads the form ''pekette'';^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline notes the surname ''Paket'' from the late 12th century.^(Etymonline) According to the OED, as quoted by Etymonline, it was at first used of a parcel of letters or dispatches, especially the state mail between England and foreign countries.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because the state ''packet'' of letters was carried by sea, a ''packet boat'' (1640s) was at first a ship carrying the mails between ports, and later any vessel sailing on fixed dates;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Weekley 1921) the short form ''packet'' for such a ship is recorded before 1670.^(OED 2026) Weekley notes that French [[m|fr|paquebot]] was borrowed from the English compound.^(Weekley 1921) A figurative ''packet'', a collection, survives in ''a packet of lies'', and ''to sell someone a packet'', to deceive them, is recorded in slang dictionaries from Grose (1785) on;^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) in Devon dialect ''to sell a packet'' meant to hoax.^(Wright 1898) In the 20th century British soldiers spoke of ''copping a packet'', being hit by a bullet or meeting trouble (1916),^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) and a large sum of money became ''a packet'' (1922, in Michael Arlen).^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) Science adopted the word for a ''wave packet'' in physics (1928) and for a unit of data in computing (1966),^(OED 2026) and Etymonline dates ''packet-switching'' to 1971.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 12th century – ''Paket'', as a surname.^(Etymonline)

+ * ?a1450 – a small pack or parcel.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1589 – figurative, a collection or set, as in ''a packet of lies''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1640s – ''packet boat'', a mail boat.^(Etymonline)

+ * a1670 – ''packet'', short for packet boat.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1785 – slang, a false report, as in ''sell someone a packet''.^(GDoS)

+ * 1916 – a bullet or wound; trouble.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1922 – a large sum of money.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1966 – in computing, a unit of data for transmission.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small [[container]] of paper, card or plastic and its contents, in which goods are sold; a small [[package]] or [[parcel]]: ''a packet of seeds''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (computing) A unit of [[data]] sent as one block over a [[network]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (colloquial, chiefly British) A large sum of [[money]]: ''The repairs cost them a packet.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+ # A [[packet boat]], a ship carrying mail, passengers and goods on a regular route.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (South Africa) A plastic carrier bag.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To wrap up or put into a packet.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wave packet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pack]]

+ * [[package]]

+ * [[packet boat]]

+ * [[parcel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}