parent
//ˈpɛəɹənt//
Forms
- Plural
- parents
- present (v1)
- parent
- past (v2)
- parented
- past participle (v3)
- parented
- present participle
- parenting
- 3rd person singular
- parents
Definitions
1.A person who raises a child (which they have made, adopted, fostered, taken as their own, etc.).
- After both her parents were killed in a forest fire, Sonia was adopted by her aunt and uncle.
- The NHS is naturally pro-immunisation, reassuring parents that their babies can easily cope with these jabs.
2.A person who has had a baby; this person in relation to their child or children.
3.A third person who has provided DNA samples in an IVF procedure in order to alter faulty genetic material.
4.A surrogate parent.
1.To act as parent, to raise or rear.
2.To provide a parent object for one or more other objects, which become the children.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #379
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Common
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English parent, borrowed from Anglo-Norman parent, Middle French parent
From Latin parentem, accusative of parēns (“parent”), present participle of pariō (“to breed, bring forth”).