Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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