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

Homozygous means that the relevant change was present in both copies of the gene, one inherited from each parent.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

These sanitized accounts ignored the homemade dangers, such as the health problems fostered by an overstretched military — realities many children would face when a changed parent finally came home.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

That alone is enough to allow us to look at a parent and still see something of the person we once knew.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

At the time of his death, he was raising them as a single parent in Ghana, his friend Kash Ahmad told BBC News.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

What parent, holding a newborn, ever fully understands how quickly a baby turns into a kindergartener?

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

But, like many once-affordable places across America, Bainbridge had become a different place since my parents bought their first home there, which now Zillows for more than $1.3 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

"The government can use the data and the technology at its disposal to register parents automatically, just to lift some of the burden off parents' shoulders," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

They are also proud of what their parents stood for and daring to call for reforms.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

While these facets might depict our tech-obsessed age, Mungiu writes them in a way that makes the Norwegians look silly, and the Gheorghius look like objectively good parents.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

What with her being my mom’s best friend, you’d think she was maybe spying for my parents, but more often, her presence was like wearing a life preserver.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• father
• mother