Word Origin & History
park (v.)
1812, "to arrange military vehicles in a park," from park (n.) (q.v.) in a limited sense of "enclosure for military vehicles" (attested from 1683). General non-military meaning "to put (a vehicle) in a certain place" is first recorded 1844. Parking lot is from 1924; parking ticket first attested 1947; park-and-ride is from 1966. The transmission gear (n.) is attested from 1963.