- 1 [usually plural] a person’s father or mother He's still living with his parents. her adoptive parents Sue and Ben have recently become parents. It can be difficult to be a good parent. see also one-parent family, single parent, step-parent Wordfinderfamilyadopt, child, family, generation, heir, in-laws, parent, relation, stepfamily, surrogate mother Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivemarried, unmarried, divorced, … parent + nouncompany See full entry See related entries: Middle age
- 2an animal or a plant which produces other animals or plants the parent bird/tree
- 3(often used as an adjective) an organization that produces and owns or controls smaller organizations of the same type a parent bank and its subsidiaries the parent company Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French, from Latin parent- ‘bringing forth’, from the verb parere. The verb dates from the mid 17th cent.Extra examples The study showed that children with involved parents do better at school. The subsidiary eventually outgrew its parent company and took it over. They have just become the proud parents of a baby girl. single-parent families the identities of the adoptive parents He’s still living with his parents. We are looking for volunteers to act as foster parents.
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