Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “parent” come from?

parent (Middle English) comes from Old French parent, from Latin parēns, from Latin pariō, from Latin -iō, from Proto-West Germanic -jō, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.

Ancestry of “parent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchparentparent
2Latinparēns—
3Latinpariō—
4Latin-iō—
5Proto-West Germanic-jōForms agent nouns from verbs
6Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
8Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “parent”

  • parents
  • parent
  • parenting
  • parenthood
  • grandparent
  • stepparent
  • grandparenting
  • parentless
  • godparent
  • parently
  • grandparental
  • grandparenthood
  • stepparenting
  • nonparent
  • coparent
  • parentification
  • parentese
  • godparenthood
  • alloparenting
  • godparenting
  • parentcraft
  • parentlike
  • stepparenthood
  • houseparent
Every word from Chichewa iye →