parent

American  

[pair-uhnt, par-] / ˈpɛər ənt, ˈpær- /

noun

parents plural

1. a father or a mother.

2. an ancestor, precursor, or progenitor.

3. a source, origin, or cause.

4. a protector or guardian.

5. Biology. any organism that produces or generates another.

6. Physics. the first nuclide in a radioactive series.

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adjective

1. being the original source.

   a parent organization.

2. Biology. pertaining to an organism, cell, or complex molecular structure that generates or produces another.

   parent cell;

   parent DNA.

verb (used with object)

1. to be or act as parent of.

   to parent children with both love and discipline.

parent British  

/ ˈpɛərənt /

noun

1. a father or mother

2. a person acting as a father or mother; guardian

3. rare an ancestor

4. a source or cause

5. 1. an organism or organization that has produced one or more organisms or organizations similar to itself

   2. ( as modifier )

      a parent organism

6. physics chem

   1. a precursor, such as a nucleus or compound, of a derived entity

   2. ( as modifier )

      a parent nucleus

      a parent ion

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonparent
  noun
• parenthood
  noun
• parentless
  adjective
• parentlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• parents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of parent

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin parent-, stem of parēns, noun use of present participle of parere “to bring forth, breed”

Explanation

A parent is a mother or father. Your mom and your dad are your parents, and one of their jobs is to parent you. We're all born to parents, and many of us also have step parents, foster parents, or adoptive parents who parent us. You might also use parent to talk about plants and animals; maybe your new puppy's parents were dog show champions, for example. Things that act as the source or owner of something else are also parents, like a parent company that owns the local bookshop. The Latin root is parere, "give birth to, produce."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parent parents

A new parent himself, Rizzo also comes to these findings with a personal stake.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

As a parent now myself, I empathise from the other side of the lens and share the pride of parents seeing their baby grown up and achieving their dreams in front of their eyes.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

It wasn’t until she got pregnant and connected with the English-speaking parent community that she started to really see herself in Paris long-term.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

"Many celestial bodies like moons and planets that are very close to their parent stars are what we call tidally locked," he explains.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

Mom and Dad are talking at each other about who’s the busier parent and why the other should be responsible for picking up Liz after her away game.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Faye, and her husband/producing partner, have parlayed this notoriety into indie, cool-kid projects that are just commercial enough that some of the target audiences’ boomer parents may also watch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

As a parent now myself, I empathise from the other side of the lens and share the pride of parents seeing their baby grown up and achieving their dreams in front of their eyes.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Young adults can establish financial independence by living on their own without help from their parents.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026

Lore Van Moll, 33, a Belgian woman visiting her parents in nearby Alfaix, said she felt fortunate that she was unharmed and that her family’s home had been spared.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

“Did you charm your parents into paying for your private piano lessons?”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• father
• mother