Etymologically
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parens

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpa.rẽːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpaː.rens][1]

Forms

parēns m or f (genitive parentis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is apparently an old aorist participle of pariō “to bring forth”, from Proto-Italic *par-(e)nt-, from Proto-Indo-European *pérh₃-t, from Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- (“to produce, beget”); compare the regular present participle ⟨pariēns⟩.[2][1][3] The genitive plural is ⟨parentum⟩, also ⟨parentium⟩.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a parent.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a parent, father or mother, as Cicero's parēns tuus, and in the plural parents, also of animals and of trees.[2][6] It meant an ancestor, and dīvī parentum the spirits of dead parents, as in Nepos.[2] Parēns patriae “father of the country” was an honorific title, as in Cicero.[2] It was used of a mother country or city, of the creative power of nature, the creator, and of the inventor of an art or the founder of a school, as in Cicero.[2] Figuratively it meant a source or cause.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a parent.[7] Medieval Latin used the plural of relatives, kin, and British Medieval Latin prīmī parentēs of Adam and Eve.[8][9] It survives in Spanish pariente and Italian parente, and through Old French parent it gave English parent in the early 15th century; legal Latin in locō parentis is used in English from the 1640s.[1][10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a parent.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses parēns patriae.[2][5]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses dīvī parentum.[2][5]
  • early 15th century – English parent is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A parent, father or mother.[2]
  2. An ancestor, dīvī parentum, the spirits of dead parents.[2]
  3. parēns patriae, the father of one's country.[2]
  4. A mother country or city.[2]
  5. The creative power of nature; the creator.[2]
  6. An inventor, founder; an author.[2]
  7. A source, cause.[2]
  8. (Medieval Latin, plural) Relatives, kin.[8]

Word family

  • parentālis
  • parentēla
  • parenticīda
  • parenticīdium
  • parentō
  • parentālia

Usage notes

Pārēns, with a long ā, is the participle of pāreō “to obey”, “obedient”, and as a noun in Sallust pārentēs are subjects.[2][6]

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 r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com