parenthood
Americannoun
Usage
What does parenthood mean? Parenthood is the state of being a parent. A person enters parenthood when they become a parent. This most commonly happens when their child is born, but it can also happen through adoption or by marrying or becoming a partner to someone with children. The terms motherhood and fatherhood are gender-specific versions of parenthood. The related noun parenting can mean the same thing as parenthood, but it more commonly refers to the process of raising children or the methods and techniques used to do so, as in I didn’t know anything about parenting before I entered parenthood. Example: People who have not experienced parenthood probably shouldn’t be so quick to criticize how other people parent their children.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of parenthood
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These are not the people who need to be convinced that parenthood is desirable, but this is the group that needs support to achieve their goal.
From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026
Still, after nearly nine months of parenthood, my husband and I were going stir crazy and decided we were ready for our first family vacation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
American parenthood is plagued with structural problems: A lack of affordable childcare, an increasingly rising standard for “good” parenting, and a cost of living that necessitates more than one income per family.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
"We are living in societies where parenthood is extremely expensive. So whatever different countries can do to support parents and support families is a good policy," says Sobotka.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
Their hearts were wrung with anguish, the anguish of having children, a vulnerability as astonishing as the capacity for love that parenthood brings, in a cuff link set all its own .
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
