parent French · revision 17338

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la pariō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pa.ʁɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''parent''' ''m'' (plural parents, feminine parente)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|parēns|t=father or mother, (plural) parents]], through its accusative “parentem”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|7, 642b) The Latin word, a noble literary substitute for “pater” and “mater”, is the present participle of [[m|la|pariō|t=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.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Rey connects “pariō” with an Indo-European root expressing giving, seen also in [[m|la|pars|t=part]] and in the Greek aorist [[grc|ἔπορον|tr=époron|t=I provided]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|părinte|t=father; priest]], [[it|parente]], [[pt|parente]], [[oc|parent]], [[ca|parent]] and [[es|pariente]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Nos premiers parents'', Adam and Eve, is recorded by the Académie in 1694.^(TLFi) 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”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''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).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ As an adjective it means “akin” from 1821 (Joseph de Maistre) and is applied to things, as in ''langues parentes'' (1916).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The singular ''un parent'' for a father or mother, once criticized, is now accepted in everyday use (''parent d'élève'', ''parent isolé'').^(Larousse) Bloch and Wartburg note that the Gallo-Romance dialects often say ''nos gens'' for one's parents.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 10th century – The father and mother; a relative, in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – “Ancestor”, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Être parent du côté d'Adam'' in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – ''Nos premiers parents'' (Adam and Eve).^(TLFi)

+ * 1798 – ''Grands parens'', the chief relatives.^(TLFi)

+ * 1821 – The adjective “akin”, in Joseph de Maistre.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1868 – ''Grands-parents'' “grandparents”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1874 – ''Traiter quelqu'un en parent pauvre'' in Zola.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(plural)'' One's [[m|en|parent|alt=parents]], father and mother: ''un enfant qui obéit à ses parents''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # (singular) A parent, father or mother: ''parent isolé'', ''parent d'élève''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|relative]]: ''un parent éloigné'', ''proche parent''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural, literary)'' [[m|en|ancestor|alt=Ancestors]]: ''nos premiers parents'' (Adam and Eve).^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Parent pauvre'': a poor relation; something neglected.^(Le Robert)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Related by family: ''ils sont parents''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Akin, similar: ''langues parentes''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arrière-grand-parent]]

+ * [[grand-parent]]

+ * [[parental]]

+ * [[parentalité]]

+ * [[parenté]]

+ * [[apparenter]]

+ * [[parentage]]

+ * [[monoparental]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parentèle]]

+ * [[la|parēns]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}