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

So was my stepfather, the onetime parent of a sensibly nuclear family, who found himself in his 80s and 90s, at the head of a much longer, noisier dinner table.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

British Airways parent IAG and Spain's Iberia had also considered bidding to add TAP's network to their own operations, before abandoning the contest.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Genetic testing revealed that Gary and Shaggy each had two altered copies of FBN1, having inherited one from each parent.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

The government said it had "committed to ensuring every bereaved parent and family has access to high-quality, consistent and compassionate care".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

As each moon goes around its parent planet in a regular orbit, just as the Earth follows a regular one-year orbit around the Sun, each moon ought to be eclipsed behind Jupiter at regular intervals.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

I suspect the rate of unfounded rejection as well as the rate of founded rejection of parents varies dramatically by location and socioeconomic class.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

The inquest heard Joshua Brown, now 18, had agreed with his parents that only a couple of friends would come round and the air rifle would stay locked in a cupboard.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

His own parents had moved to Colorado to help out with his brother’s kids.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

In Fresno, the children of Noelia Bautista and Cipriano Lopez launched a GoFundMe after their parents were detained.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

And people, his parents and Mrs. Kuen, had already begun to hear about it.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• father
• mother