parry

Etymology

It is borrowed from French parer (“to ward off, evade (a blow)”), probably partly through the imperative parez, used as a word of command in fencing lessons.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} The French verb is recorded in this sense from 1588, in Middle French,^[2] and comes from Italian parare (“to ward off, defend (a blow)”),^[2][6][3] a specialized use of its sense "to prepare";^[4][3] the OED also allows that French took the sense from Italian into its own parer, to prepare.^[2] The Italian verb is from Latin parō (“to make ready, prepare”),^[2][8][5] the source of pare, and the word is akin to parade.^[8][3][4] The American Heritage Dictionary refers the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *perə-.^[5] Merriam-Webster traces the French verb through Old Occitan parar instead.^[9] Weekley noted that English often adds -y to French verbs, as in levy and occupy, so that the imperative is not needed to explain the form.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

An act of opposing or averting something threatening, a check or counter: 1655, as a noun, in Lord Orrery's Parthenissa.^[2] The verb, to ward off a weapon or blow, follows in 1671, in Shadwell's Humorists.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The OED takes the noun from the verb, although the verb is recorded slightly later, and compares the slightly earlier noun parade in fencing;^[2] in 1639 the fencing manual Pallas Armata used to parere, recalling both the French and the Italian verbs.^[2] Dates for the verb differ: Etymonline gives the 1630s and the Concise Barnhart 1634,^[6][11] while the full Barnhart has 1672, in Marvell's Rehearsal Transposed,^[8] and the OED has the transitive use from 1672, in Dryden.^[2] The fencing noun appears in 1673, in Dryden's Marriage a-la-Mode,^[2] by 1705 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[6][8] Figurative use began in 1687, of averting something unwelcome or dealing with an awkward question,^[2] and the intransitive sense "to give an evasive reply" is recorded from 1718, in Prior's Alma, the first non-fencing use in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[2][8][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to put by thrusts; to fence".^[12] A noun sense of a verbal exchange or dispute is recorded from before 1734;^[2] in the 20th century the verb was used of a reply given evasively (1913), of returning a difficult shot in tennis (1913) and of a goalkeeper deflecting the ball (1953).^[2]

Timeline

• 1639 – to parere, in Pallas Armata.^[2]
• 1655 – noun, a check or counter.^[2]
• 1671 – verb, to ward off a weapon or blow.^[2][9]
• 1672 – transitive, to ward off a blow.^[2][8]
• 1673 – noun, a warding off in fencing.^[2]
• 1687 – to avert something unwelcome; to deal with an awkward question.^[2]
• 1718 – to give an evasive reply.^[2][8][6]
• before 1734 – noun, a verbal exchange or dispute.^[2]
• 1913 – to say in reply, evasively; in tennis, to return a difficult shot.^[2]
• 1953 – of a goalkeeper, to deflect the ball.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ward off or turn aside a blow or weapon, as in fencing or boxing: He parried the thrust and stepped back.^[13][9][2]
2. To avoid or deal skilfully with a question, criticism or threat: The minister parried every question about the budget.^[13][9][2]
3. To say something in reply, cleverly or evasively.^[2]
4. Of a goalkeeper, to push the ball or puck away from the goal instead of catching it.^[2]

Noun

1. An act of warding off a blow or weapon, especially in fencing.^[13][9][2]
2. A skilful evasion, as of a question; a counter or rejoinder.^[13][2]

Word family

• parriable
• parrier
• unparried

Related words

• pare
• parade
• parasol
• parapet

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins