Parent

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: par=ent

CIDE DICTIONARY

Parent, n. [L. parens, -entis; akin to parere to bring forth; cf. Gr. porei^n to give, beget: cf. F. parent. Cf. Part.].

•  One who begets, or brings forth, offspring; a father or a mother.  [1913 Webster]

  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which produces; cause; source; author; begetter; as, idleness is the parent of vice.  [1913 Webster]

  "Regular industry is the parent of sobriety."  [1913 Webster]

Parent cell. (Biol.) See Mother cell, under Mother, also Cytula. -- Parent nucleus (Biol.), a nucleus which, in cell division, divides, and gives rise to two or more daughter nuclei. See Karyokinesis, and Cell division, under Division.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Parent, n. & v.
--n.
1 a person who has begotten or borne offspring; a father or mother.
2 a person who has adopted a child.
3 a forefather.
4 an animal or plant from which others are derived.
5 a source or origin.
6 an initiating organization or enterprise.
--v.tr. (also absol.) be a parent of.

Idiom

parent company a company of which other companies are subsidiaries. parent-teacher association a local organization of parents and teachers for promoting closer relations and improving educational facilities at a school.

Derivative

parental adj. parentally adv. parenthood n.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L parens parentis f. parere bring forth

THESAURUS

Parent

agent, ancestor, ancestorial, ancestral, ancestress, author, begetter, beginner, catalyst, causer, creator, effector, engenderer, father, fatherlike, fatherly, generator, grandfatherly, grandmotherly, grandparent, grandparental, guardian, inspirer, instigator, maker, mater, materfamilias, maternal, mother, motherlike, motherly, mover, origin, originator, parental, pater, paterfamilias, paternal, patriarchal, prime mover, primum mobile, procreator, producer, progenitor, progenitress, progenitrix, root, sire, source, stepfather, stepmother

ROGET THESAURUS

Parent

Paternity

N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.