parens

¹ American  

[puh-renz] / pəˈrɛnz /

plural noun

Informal.

1. parentheses.

   The entire sentence should be in parens.

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parens. ² American  

abbreviation

1. parentheses.

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Usage

What does parens mean? Parens is an informal shortening of the term parentheses. Parens look like (  ). They are used mostly in writing, mathematics, and computer programming.In writing, parens are punctuation marks used to enclose text that gives secondary information to the sentence, as in Jonah (the person who sat alone in the back) really liked the play.In mathematics, parens are used to group numbers and to denote multiplication. In operator precedence (the order of operations in math), calculations within parens are completed first.In computer programming, parens are used for a variety of reasons, depending on the coding language. For example, parens are sometimes used to separate words, numbers, or data visually or to relay those characters to a function or process of the program. While use of the term parens is largely to save time and space, in some coding functions, data will only be taken from parentheses if the code uses the term parens instead of parentheses. Occasionally in computer programming, the term will be used in its singular (paren). Example: I did well on my history paper except that I totally forgot to use parens in the cites.

Etymology

Origin of parens

By shortening

Example Sentences

“It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. To defeat JNIM, the junta needs large-scale ground operations and air support; yet both depend on a steady supply of fuel,” said the FPRI’s Parens.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The longer the blockade drags on, the closer Bamako comes to collapse,” said Raphael Parens, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan policy center in Philadelphia.

From The Wall Street Journal

After discussions that were at times “downright painful, uncomfortable,” says co-PI Erik Parens, an ethicist at Hastings, the panel saw value in assigning genetic scores to certain behavioral traits in individual populations.

From Science Magazine

Michele Goodwin: If we’re to understand the history of the parens patriae authority that the state has, we could look back to 1905 and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Jacobson v.

From Slate

The government also said the states lacked power to sue under a doctrine known as “parens patriae,” Latin for “parent of the nation,” because it allegedly would not protect children from harm.

From Reuters