Part and parcel
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
An essential, expected, or inseparable component of a larger activity, system, or experience. Most often appears after be: something is part and parcel of something else. Regional use: Late Middle English; now widespread.
Origin
Part and parcel is recorded from the early fifteenth century. At first the two nouns were close synonyms: parcel could mean a portion or part, so the pair added legal or rhetorical emphasis rather than distinguishing two different things. The present idiom, in which something is an integral and expected component of a larger activity or condition, developed from that reinforced whole-and-portion language.
Research Sources
Variants
- Part or parcel
Usage Examples
- Delays are part and parcel of restoring an old house.
- Careful documentation is part and parcel of the job.
- Occasional criticism is part and parcel of public office.