package

Etymology

Equivalent to pack +‎ -age. Possibly influenced by Anglo-Latin paccagium or Old French pacquage.

Pronunciation

• (UK, General Australian, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpækɪd͡ʒ/

  • Audio (California); [ˈpʰakɛd͡ʒ]:

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ækɪd͡ʒ

Noun

package (countable and uncountable, plural packages)

1. Something which is packed, a parcel, a box, an envelope.
2. Something which consists of various components, such as a piece of computer software.
   • 2023 January 17, Paul Tassi, “Netflix Has Created A Self-Fulfilling Cancelation Loop With Its New Shows”, in Forbes:

     It’s now created a system where creators should be afraid to make a series that dares to end on a cliffhanger or save anything for future seasons, lest their story forever be left unfinished. And viewers are afraid to commit to any show that isn’t a completely aired package lest they spend 10-30 hours on something that ends up unresolved, which has happened dozens and dozens of times, creating a vast “show graveyard” within Netflix.

   Did you test the software package to ensure completeness?

3. (software) A piece of software which has been prepared in such a way that it can be installed with a package manager.
4. (uncountable, archaic) The act of packing something.
   • 1781, A Complete Digest of the Theory, Laws, and Practice of Insurance‎, page 106:

     for, it has often happened that, without any accident at ſea, heavy averages, owing to bad package and ſtowage only, have been demanded, and paid by inſurers

   • 1813, William Milburn, Oriental Commerce: Containing a Geographical Description of the Principal Places in the East Indies, China, and Japan, with Their Produce, Manufactures, and Trade, Including the Coasting Or Country Trade from Port to Port: also the Rise and Progress of the Trade of the Various European Nations with the Eastern World, Particularly that of the English East India Company from the Discovery of the Passage Round the Cape of Good Hope to the Present Period: with an Account of the Company's Establishments, volume II, London: Black, Parry, and Co., page 533:

     The Company's instructions to the supracargoes of their ships are very particular as to the mode of package and stowage.

   • 1849, “TONGUE”, in Robert Bentley Todd, editor, The cyclopædia of anatomy and physiology, volume IV, London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, Paternoster-Row, pages 1127/2-1128/1, column 2:

     But we see more; we see a very curious and artificial arrangement of the fibres very much contributing to facilitate their package, and by which they mutually support one another and act with the greatest advantage.

5. Something resembling a package. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
6. A package holiday.
7. A football formation.

   the "dime" defensive package

   For third and short, they're going to bring in their jumbo package.

8. (euphemistic, vulgar) The male genitalia.
   • 2013, Velvet Carter, Blissfully Yours, page 93:

     The women usually wore bikini tops with shorts, swimsuits underneath cover-ups or just swimsuits. Men came in various types of trunks, from traditional boxers, to Speedos, to G-string trunks that showcased their packages.

9. (uncountable, historical) A charge made for packing goods.
10. (journalism) A group of related stories spread over several pages.
11. (television, radio) Synonym of wrap (“complete news report ready for broadcast”)
    • 2005, Ted White, Broadcast News: Writing, Reporting, and Producing, page 245:

      Attend a news conference, and prepare a wrap or package.

Verb

package (third-person singular simple present packages, present participle packaging, simple past and past participle packaged)

1. To pack or bundle something.
2. To travel on a package holiday.
3. To prepare (a book, a television series, etc.), including all stages from research to production, in order to sell the result to a publisher or broadcaster.

References

• “package, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, January 2015.