The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

packet \pack"et\ (p[a^]k"[e^]t), n. [F. paquet, dim. fr. LL.
   paccus, from the same source as E. pack. See Pack.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel; as, a
      packet of letters. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Originally, a vessel employed by government to convey
      dispatches or mails; hence, a vessel employed in conveying
      dispatches, mails, passengers, and goods, and having fixed
      days of sailing; a mail boat.
      [1913 Webster]

   Packet boat, Packet ship, or Packet vessel. See
      Packet, n., 2.

   Packet day, the day for mailing letters to go by packet; or
      the sailing day.

   Packet note or Packet post. See under Paper.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Packet \Pack"et\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Packeted; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Packeting.]
   1. To make up into a packet or bundle.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To send in a packet or dispatch vessel.
      [1913 Webster]

            Her husband
            Was packeted to France.               --Ford.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Packet \Pack"et\, v. i.
   To ply with a packet or dispatch boat.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

packet
    n 1: a collection of things wrapped or boxed together [syn:
         package, bundle, packet, parcel]
    2: (computer science) a message or message fragment
    3: a small package or bundle
    4: a boat for carrying mail [syn: mailboat, mail boat,
       packet, packet boat]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

48 Moby Thesaurus words for "packet":
   argosy, bale, bark, batch, bindle, boat, bolt, bomb, boodle,
   bottom, bouquet, bucket, budget, bundle, craft, deck, fagot,
   fardel, fasces, fascine, fortune, great deal, hooker, hulk, hull,
   keel, leviathan, loads, lots, mint, nosegay, pack, package, parcel,
   piles, posy, pretty penny, quiver, roll, rouleau, sheaf, ship,
   tidy sum, truss, tub, vessel, wad, watercraft



The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

packet
data packet

   The unit of data sent across a network.  "Packet" is a
   generic term used to describe a unit of data at any layer of
   the OSI protocol stack, but it is most correctly used to
   describe application layer data units ("application
   protocol data unit", APDU).

   See also datagram, frame.

   (1994-11-30)