PARENT

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin ~-, parens; akin to Latin parere to give birth to Date: 15th century 1. one that begets or brings forth offspring, a person who brings up and cares for another, 2. an animal or plant that is regarded in relation to its offspring, the material or source from which something is derived, a group from which another arises and to which it usually remains subsidiary , ~ adjective ~al adjective ~ally adverb ~less adjective II. verb Date: 1663 transitive verb to be or act as the ~ of ; originate , produce , intransitive verb to be or act as a ~