parent

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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.

2. 2
   noun

   The source or origin of something.

   Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry.

3. 3
   noun

   Sponsor, supporter, owner, protector.

   The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed. He saw that it was a battered-looking affair of the prahm type, with a blunt snout, and like the parent ship, had recently been painted a vivid green.

4. 4
   verb

   To act as parent, to raise or rear.

   However, even with money and caregivers, the child is left without a parent and most likely without a plan for their emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being. A time will come when you will no longer be able to parent your child, period.

5. 5
   noun

   an organism (plant or animal) from which younger ones are obtained

6. 6
   noun

   a father or mother

7. 7
   verb

   bring up

8. 8
   noun

   A person who has had a baby; this person in relation to their child or children.

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”).