Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Pack in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels pack as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Pack

[Akin to D. pakken, G. packen, Dan. pakke, Sw. packa, Icel. pakka. See Pack, n.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordpack
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[Akin to D. pakken, G. packen, Dan. pakke, Sw. packa, Icel. pakka. See Pack, n.]
Selected historical definitionTo make a pack of; to arrange closely and securely in a pack; hence, to place and arrange compactly as in a pack; to press into close order or narrow compass; as, to pack goods in a box; to pack fish.
Signed record IDwebster1913-pack-verb-4c23080d55a7
Source locatorCIDE.P, paragraph 136; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "pack" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Akin to D. pakken, G. packen, Dan. pakke, Sw. packa, Icel. pakka. See Pack, n.]" The selected historical definition says: "To make a pack of; to arrange closely and securely in a pack; hence, to place and arrange compactly as in a pack; to press into close order or narrow compass; as, to pack goods in a box; to pack fish."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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[Cf. F. placer. See Place, n.]

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[OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure.]

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Power

[OE. pouer, poer, OF. poeir, pooir, F. pouvoir, n. & v., fr. LL. potere, for L. posse, potesse, to be able, to have power. See Possible, Potent, and cf. Posse comitatus.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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