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Etymology and origin of the French word parent

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Vie de saint Léger
Inherited from
Latin parens
Ultimate origin
Latin (pariō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin parens
English parent
French parent

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.ʁɑ̃/[1]

Forms

parent m (plural parents, feminine parente)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin parēns (“father or mother, (plural) parents”), through its accusative “parentem”.[2][3][4][5] The Latin word, a noble literary substitute for “pater” and “mater”, is the present participle of pariō (“to produce; to give birth”) used as a noun; in imperial times it was also used for ancestors and for relatives such as brothers and sisters, and familiar Late Latin used it for members of the same family.[3][4] Rey connects “pariō” with an Indo-European root expressing giving, seen also in pars (“part”) and in the Greek aorist Ancient Greek ἔπορον (époron, “I provided”).[3][6]

Cognate with Romanian părinte (“father; priest”), Italian parente, Portuguese parente, Occitan parent, Catalan parent and Spanish pariente.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Léger (late 10th century) the plural means the father and mother together, and the same text also uses it for a relative.[2][3] The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has it for an ancestor: E ço lur dist de quels parenz il eret (“and he told them from what parents he came”).[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Nos premiers parents, Adam and Eve, is recorded by the Académie in 1694.[2] For relatives, lor proceain parent appears in 1120–1150 and proche parent in the 16th century (1536 in Rey, 1594 in the TLFi); Furetière (1690) has the joking être parent du côté d'Adam, “to be related very distantly”.[2][3] Grands parens meant in 1798 the most important among one's close relatives, and took its modern sense, the parents of one's parents, about 1868.[2][3] Parent pauvre comes from the title Balzac gave to Le Cousin Pons and La Cousine Bette (1846–1847), and traiter quelqu'un en parent pauvre is in Zola (1874).[3][2]

As an adjective it means “akin” from 1821 (Joseph de Maistre) and is applied to things, as in langues parentes (1916).[2][3] The singular un parent for a father or mother, once criticized, is now accepted in everyday use (parent d'élève, parent isolé).[8] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Gallo-Romance dialects often say nos gens for one's parents.[4]

Timeline

  • late 10th century – The father and mother; a relative, in the Vie de saint Léger.[2]
  • c. 1050 – “Ancestor”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1690 – Être parent du côté d'Adam in Furetière.[2]
  • 1694 – Nos premiers parents (Adam and Eve).[2]
  • 1798 – Grands parens, the chief relatives.[2]
  • 1821 – The adjective “akin”, in Joseph de Maistre.[2]
  • c. 1868 – Grands-parents “grandparents”.[3]
  • 1874 – Traiter quelqu'un en parent pauvre in Zola.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (plural) One's parents, father and mother: un enfant qui obéit à ses parents.[6][9]
  2. (singular) A parent, father or mother: parent isolé, parent d'élève.[8][6]
  3. A relative: un parent éloigné, proche parent.[2][1]
  4. (plural, literary) Ancestors: nos premiers parents (Adam and Eve).[6]
  5. Parent pauvre: a poor relation; something neglected.[9][3]

Adjective

  1. Related by family: ils sont parents.[10][1]
  2. Akin, similar: langues parentes.[1][2]

Word family

  • arrière-grand-parent
  • grand-parent
  • parental
  • parentalité
  • parenté
  • apparenter
  • parentage
  • monoparental

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 642b
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Parent.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/parent. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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