parse

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*per-“to carry forth; to sell”
2. Latin · derived frompars“part, piece, share”
3. Old French · derived frompars
4. Middle English · inherited frompars“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”
5. English todayparse

Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)), from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sell”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from mid 16th c. To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically.