parent

The story

1. Latin · derived fromparentem
2. Middle French · derived fromparent
3. Anglo-Norman · derived fromparent
4. Middle English · inherited fromparent
5. English todayparent

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”).

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. A person who raises a child (which they have made, adopted, fostered, taken as their own, etc.).
• 15th–18th c. A relative.
• from 16th c. The source or origin of something.
• from 17th c. An organism from which a plant or animal is immediately biologically descended.
• from 20th c. A parent company.
• from 20th c. The object from which a child or derived object is descended; a node superior to another node.