parent

/ˈpɛrənt/

/ˈpɛərənt/

Other forms: parents; parenting; parented

A parent is a mother or father. Your mom and your dad are your parents, and one of their jobs is to parent you.

We're all born to parents, and many of us also have step parents, foster parents, or adoptive parents who parent us. You might also use parent to talk about plants and animals; maybe your new puppy's parents were dog show champions, for example. Things that act as the source or owner of something else are also parents, like a parent company that owns the local bookshop. The Latin root is parere, "give birth to, produce."

Definitions of parent

1. noun

   a father or mother; one who begets or one who gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child; a relative who plays the role of guardian
   antonyms:

   child

   a human offspring (son or daughter) of any age

   types:

   adopter, adoptive parent

   a person who adopts a child of other parents as his or her own child

   empty nester

   a parent whose children have grown up and left home

   begetter, father, male parent

   a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)

   filicide

   a parent who murders his own son or daughter

   female parent, mother

   a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)

   stepparent

   the spouse of your parent by a subsequent marriage

   dad, dada, daddy, pa, papa, pappa, pop

   an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk

   father-in-law

   the father of your spouse

   ma, mama, mamma, mammy, mom, momma, mommy, mum, mummy

   informal terms for a mother

   mater

   an informal use of the Latin word for mother; sometimes used by British schoolboys or used facetiously

   mother-in-law

   the mother of your spouse

   old man

   an informal term for your father

   pater

   an informal use of the Latin word for father; sometimes used by British schoolboys or used facetiously

   para I, primipara

   (obstetrics) woman who has been delivered of a child for the first time

   puerpera

   a woman in childbirth or shortly thereafter

   quadripara

   (obstetrics) woman who has given birth to a viable infant in each of four pregnancies

   quintipara

   (obstetrics) woman who has given birth to a viable infant in each of five pregnancies

   stepfather

   the husband of your mother by a subsequent marriage

   stepmother

   the wife of your father by a subsequent marriage

   supermom

   an informal term for a mother who can combine childcare and full-time employment

   surrogate mother

   a woman who bears a child for a couple where the wife is unable to do so

   type of:

   genitor

   a natural father or mother
2. noun

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

   being, organism

   a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently
3. verb

   bring up
   synonyms: bring up, nurture, raise, rear

   types:

   fledge

   feed, care for, and rear young birds for flight

   cradle

   bring up from infancy

   foster

   bring up under fosterage; of children