parent
[pair-uh nt, par-]
- 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.
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- 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.
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- to be or act as parent of: to parent children with both love and discipline.
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Origin of parent
1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin parent- (stem of parēns), noun use of present participle of parere to bring forth, breed
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
fathermotheroriginatororiginprototypecenterauthorrootcreatorforerunnersourcearchitectprogenitorfolksguardianancestorcausewellspringfountainheadbegetterExamples from the Web for parent
Contemporary Examples
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.
Patty Hearst's parents are separated, and he broods about which parent the girl will go to before her marriage.
Historical Examples
As between child and parent or nurse it is not argued about because it is inevitable.
A Treatise on Parents and ChildrenGeorge Bernard Shaw
But the yearning towards the parent country is too strong to be overcome.
In the Heart of VosgesMatilda Betham-Edwards
I am a childless man, yet here I am as the parent of all of them.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
It is the parent, the fosterer, the sole supporter of the slave-trade.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
He then mentioned his intention, as a gentleman and a parent, of writing to Mr Merdle.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
parent
- 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 nucleus; a parent ion
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Word Origin
C15: via Old French from Latin parens parent, from parere to bring forth
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for parent
n.
early 15c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Old French parent "father, parent, relative, kin" (11c.), from Latin parentem (nominative parens) "father or mother, ancestor," noun use of present participle of parere "bring forth, give birth to, produce," from PIE root *pere- "to bring forth" (see pare). Began to replace native elder after c.1500.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
parent
(pâr′ənt)- One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.
- An ancestor; a progenitor.
- An organism that produces or generates offspring.
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- To act as a parent to; to rear and nurture.
- To cause to come into existence; to serve as a source for; originate.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.