parent

(pâr'ənt, păr'-)
n.

1. One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.
2. An ancestor; a progenitor.
3. An organism that produces or generates offspring.
4. A guardian; a protector.
5. A parent company.
6. A source or cause; an origin: Despair is the parent of rebellion.

v., -ent·ed, -ent·ing, -ents.

v.tr.

1. To act as a parent to; raise and nurture: "A genitor who does not parent the child is not its parent" (Ashley Montagu).
2. To cause to come into existence; originate.

v.intr.
To act as a parent.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin parēns, parent-, from past active participle of parere, to give birth.]

parenthood par'ent·hood' n.

View more Science videos

noun

1. A person from whom one is descended: ancestor, antecedent, ascendant, father, forebear, forefather, foremother, mother, progenitor. Archaic predecessor. See kin, precede/follow.
2. One that creates, founds, or originates: architect, author, creator, entrepreneur, father, founder², inventor, maker, originator, patriarch. See start/end.
3. A point of origination: beginning, derivation, fount, fountain, fountainhead, mother, origin, provenance, provenience, root¹, rootstock, source, spring, well¹. See start/end.

verb

To cause to come into existence: beget, breed, create, engender, father, hatch, make, originate, procreate, produce, sire, spawn. Idioms: givebirthriseto. See make/unmake.

n

Definition: person, source of product
Antonyms: child

IN BRIEF: A father or mother. Also: a living thing that has produced offspring.

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child. — Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), American preacher, speaker and writer.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

sign description: The thumb touches the chin then the forhead.

---

1. any organism that has given rise to another such organism, whether sexually or asexually.
2. a precursor of some derived entity; applied, e.g., to a cell, a virus, a chromosome or molecule of DNA, or a radionuclide.
3. parent compound (in chemical nomenclature) the member of a group of related compounds that has the simplest chemical structure and that forms the basis for naming the others.

—parental adj.

Previous:	parenchyma, paratose, paratope
Next:	parenteral, parietal, parinaric acid

For a list of words related to parent, see:

• Relationships by Blood and Marriage - parent: mother or father; progenitor
• Upbringing and Development - parent: person who has begotten a child or is legally responsible for its upbringing; mother or father
• Names and Relationships - parent: mother or father of child; forebear

---

See words rhyming with "parenthood."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Parent.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - en af forældrene
v. tr. - opdrage, være mor/far for
v. intr. - være mor/far

idioms:

• parent company    moderselskab
• parent directory    [edb] overbibliotek, [edb] overdirektorat

Nederlands (Dutch)
ouder, voorouder, voogd, bron, ouder/voogd zijn

Français (French)
n. - parent, (Comm) maison mère, organisation mère
v. tr. - agir en tant que parent
v. intr. - agir en tant que parent

idioms:

• parent company    maison mère
• parent directory    (Comput) répertoire parent

Deutsch (German)
n. - Elternteil, Elterntier, Quelle
v. - Eltern sein, hervorbringen

idioms:

• parent company    Muttergesellschaft
• parent directory    Elternadreßbuch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γονιός, γεννήτορας, γονέας
v. - είμαι ο γονιός/γεννήτορας

idioms:

• parent company    (οικον.) μητρική εταιρία
• parent directory    (Η/Υ) ιεραρχικά ανώτερος κατάλογος

Italiano (Italian)
genitore

idioms:

• parent company    società capogruppo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pai (m) ou mãe (f), origem (f)
v. - criar

idioms:

• parent company    matriz

Русский (Russian)
родитель

idioms:

• parent company    компания-учредитель

Español (Spanish)
n. - madre, padre
v. tr. - apadrinar
v. intr. - poner bajo tutela, salir de padrino

idioms:

• parent company    casa matriz, casa central
• parent directory    lista de padres de alumnos

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förälder
v. - uppfostra, vara upphov till

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
双亲, 父亲, 养育, 做...的父亲

idioms:

• parent company    母公司, 总公司
• parent directory    父代目录

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 雙親, 父親
v. tr. - 養育, 做...的父親
v. intr. - 養育

idioms:

• parent company    母公司, 總公司
• parent directory    父代目錄

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 어버이, 조상, 근원
v. tr. - ~의 부모 노릇을 하다
v. intr. - 낳다, 아이를 기르다, 육아하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 親, 後見人
v. - 生み出す
adj. - 親の

idioms:

• parent company    親会社

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أب وأم, أصل, مصدر, سبب, والدان, أبوان (فعل) يقوم بدور أحد الوالدين‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הורה, אם, אב‬
v. tr. - ‮היה הורה ל-‬
v. intr. - ‮פעל כהורה‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.