part and parcel

P

part and parcel

Meaning

• something that is a basic or essential element of the whole
• a necessary part of an experience that cannot be avoided
• an integral or essential component
• something that is accepted as a vital portion of a bigger entity

Example Sentences

1. Darkness is part and parcel of the night.
2. Injuries are part and parcel of a player’s life.
3. Sleepless nights and worry are all part and parcel of being a new mother.
4. Not knowing where you will be tomorrow or what your next meal is going to look and taste like are part and parcel of the back backer experience.
5. Sandy knew she would pick the job up quickly and that her nerves and lack of confidence were all part and parcel of taking on this big promotion.
6. Vet expenses and food bills are all part and parcel of getting a pet.
7. Ups and downs are “part and parcel” of life. You cannot run away from them.
8. Syria confirms that occupied Golan is part and parcel of its territory.

Origin

This idiom seems to have started out as legal jargon as far back as the 16^th century. Part or/nor parcel were used principally in clauses dealing with land ownership. The figurative phrase as we know it nowadays came into common usage in the early 1800s. Both nouns (part/parcel) seem to add alliterative emphasis when used together, even though they have the same basic meaning.

Patrick E Dove wrote in Logic of the Christian Faith (1856):

“the moral law of the conscience is part and parcel of man himself.”

Assorted