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parent
[ pair-uhnt, par- ]
noun
- a father or a mother.
- an ancestor, precursor, or progenitor.
- a source, origin, or cause.
- a protector or guardian.
- Biology. any organism that produces or generates another.
- Physics. the first nuclide in a radioactive series.
adjective
- being the original source:
a parent organization.
- Biology. pertaining to an organism, cell, or complex molecular structure that generates or produces another:
parent cell;
parent DNA.
verb (used with object)
- to be or act as parent of:
to parent children with both love and discipline.
parent
/ ˈpɛərənt /
noun
- a father or mother
- a person acting as a father or mother; guardian
- rare.an ancestor
- a source or cause
- an organism or organization that has produced one or more organisms or organizations similar to itself
- ( as modifier )
a parent organism
- physics chem
- a precursor, such as a nucleus or compound, of a derived entity
- ( as modifier )
a parent ion
a parent nucleus
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Derived Forms
- ˈparenthood, noun
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Other Words From
- parent·less adjective
- parent·like adjective
- non·parent noun
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Word History and Origins
Origin of parent1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of parent1
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Example Sentences
After four or five months of casual interaction, they realized they both had lost a young parent to cancer.
Tinder and OkCupid are both owned by IAC, the parent company of The Daily Beast.
To be a parent is to be able to offer truly unconditional love.
Not even after its parent company, the Soviet Union, took a dive in 1991.
At least one parent would have to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
"I'm afraid I couldn't quite manage that, my dear boy," your fond parent would respond.
He paused; and hastily wrote a few lines, to say that parent still lived, and would yet proclaim himself with honour to the world.
I betray my beloved parent's confidence, to save you from a certain and ignominious death.
In some states he becomes the heir of the adopted parent like a natural child, with some limitations.
The fibre can be separated with great facility, though firmly attached at one end to the parent rock.
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