Etymologically
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parry

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Pronunciation

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

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