LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

parēns1

parēns m or f (genitive parentis)
Classical[ˈpa.rẽːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈpaː.rens]
№ 190 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. parent, mother, father
    Nec tibi dīva parēns, generis nec Dardanus auctor, / perfide! [...].[Dido to Aeneas:] “No goddess was your mother, nor was Dardanus the founder of your line, [you] liar! ….”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.365–366
    ille suōs semper Venerem Mārtemque parentēs dīxit et ēmeruit vōcis habēre fidem He always said that Venus and Mars were his parents, and he deserved to have the credit for his assertion. Or: … he deserved to have his word trusted; … to be believed; … to be ‘‘taken at his word’’ (See Quirinus as the deified Romulus.)8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 4.57–58
  2. founder, ancestor
    Quæ si esset in analogia, negant ullum casum duobus modis debuisse dici; quod fit contra...Nam sine reprehensione vulgo alii dicunt in singulari hac ovi et avi, alii hac ove et ave; in multitudinis hæ puppis restis et hæ puppes restes; item quod in patrico casu hoc genus dispariliter dicuntur civitatum parentum et civitatium parentium, in accusandi hos montes fontes et hos montis fontis.If regularity existed, they say, no case ought to be used in two forms; but the opposite is found to occur...For without censure quite commonly some say in the ablative singular ovi ('sheep') and avi ('bird'); others say ove and ave; in the plural, the nominative puppis ('ship's sterns') and restis ('ropes'), also puppes and restes; likewise there is the fact that in the genitive plural of words of this class are used the variant forms civitatum ('of states'), parentum ('of parents'), and civitatium, parentium ('of parents'), and in the accusative plural montes ('mountains'), fontes ('springs'), and montis, fontis.a. 27 BC, Marcus Terentius Varro, De Lingua Latina, Book VIII, Chapter XXXVII.66

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

pater vel māter.
parēns -entis m/f — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia
pater et māter ūnā.
parentēs -um m pl — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeparēnsparentēs
genitiveparentisparentum
parentium
dativeparentīparentibus
accusativeparentemparentēs
parentīs
ablativeparenteparentibus
vocativeparēnsparentēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

a parentibus degenerare
to degenerate (from one's ancestors).
humilibus (obscuris) parentibus natus
of humble, obscure origin.

pārens, entis, Part. and P. a., from pareo.
părens, entis, m. and f. (
I. gen. plur. parentum and parentium, cf. Varr. L. L. 8, § 66 Müll.; Charis. p. 111 P.; Diom. p. 282 ib.: masculino genere parentem appellabant antiqui etiam matrem, Fest. p. 151 Müll.; so, Gracchus, Charis. p. 79 P.) [pario], a procreator, a father or mother, a parent; most freq. in the plur., parents.
1. Lit.: SI PARENTEM PVER VERBERIT ... DIVIS PARENTVM SACER ESTO, Lex regia: qui parentem aut hospitem Necasset, Enn. ap. Non. 153, 29 (Trag. v. 239 Vahl.): parens tuus, Cic. Sull. 29, 81; Hor. A. P. 313: illum et parentis crediderim sui Fregisse cervicem, id. C. 2, 13, 5: alma parens Idaea deum, Verg. A. 10, 252: an tu reris eum (Orestem) occisā insanuisse parente? etc., Hor. S. 2, 3, 134: imperator, qui sibi parentis loco esset, i. e. entitled to the reverence due a father, Liv. 4, 42, 8; cf.: (Lolliam) privignis parentis loco futuram, be a mother to them, Tac. A. 12. 2: parentis eam (Darii matrem) loco diligi colique, Curt. 5, 3, 11: per speciem honorandae parentis, Liv. 8, 22, 2; 26, 49, 13.—In plur.: quae (caritas) est inter natos et parentes, Cic. Lael. 8, 27: parentes cum liberis, Caes. B. G. 5, 14, 4; Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 42, § 108: opus a parentibus majoribusque meis relictum, id. Rep. 1, 22, 35: in parentum loco, id. Planc. 11, 28.— Of animals, a sire or dam, Varr. R. R. 3, 7 fin.: gravida stans, Plin. 8, 42, 66, § 165; Cels. 6, 6, 39; Stat. Th. 10, 231.—
b. Transf.
(a). Grandparents, and, in gen., progenitors, ancestors (parentes, like patres, is used of the generations immediately preceding the present; all ancestors more remote than the grandparents are called majores, Seyffert ad Cic. Lael. p. 260): Siciliam tantum ac Sardiniam parentibus nostris ereptas nostrā virtute recuperaturi essemus, Liv. 21, 43, 6: appellatione parentis non tantum pater, sed etiam avus et proavus, et deinceps omnes superiores continentur: sed et mater et avia et proavia, Dig. 50, 16, 51; cf. ib. 2, 4, 4; Fest. p. 221 Müll.; Cic. Inv. 1, 54, 103; Verg. A. 9, 3; 10, 76; 619: si patriam, parentes, antiqua mallent quam dominos et colonias novas, Tac. A. 1, 59; Dig. 23, 3, 5.—
(b). Relations, kinsfolk, kindred (rare and not ante-Aug.): solent rei capitis adhibere vobis parentes. Duos ego fratres nuper amisi, Curt. 6, 10, 30; Lampr. Alex. Sev. 67; Capitol. M. Aur. 5; Flor. 3, 18, 5.—(Whether we are to take it in this sense in Liv 34, 32, 12, is doubtful.) —
2. Trop., a father, founder, inventor, author (class.): me quem nonnulli conservatorem istius urbis, quem parentem esse dixerunt, Cic. Att. 9, 10, 3: operum parens effectorque, id. Univ. 11: Socrates parens philosophiae, id. Fin. 2, 1, 1; cf.: Tullius facundiae Latiarumque litterarum parens, Plin. 7, 30, 31, § 117; and: Homerus primus doctrinarum et antiquitatis parens, id. 25, 2, 5, § 11: (Mercurius) curvae lyrae parens, Hor. C. 1, 10, 6: earum (rerum) parens est educatrixque sapientia, Cic. Leg. 1, 24, 62.—As an honorary appellation: quid prius dicam solitis Parentis Laudibus, i. e. Jupiter, Hor. C. 1, 12, 13: Latius, i. e. Domitian, Stat. S. 1, 2, 178.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *par-(e)nt-, an old aorist participle from Proto-Indo-European *pérh₃-t ~ *pr̥h₃-ént, from the root *perh₃- (“to produce, beget”). Compare the regular present participle pariēns.

Descendants
  • Catalanparent
  • Englishin loco parentis
  • Englishparentfrom Old French parent
  • Frenchparentfrom Old French parent
  • Italianparente
  • Portugueseparentefrom Old Galician-Portuguese parente
  • Spanishparientefrom Old Spanish pariente
  • Romanianpărinte
  • Albanianprind
  • Aromanianpãrinti

In English words that came into English from parēns

  • parentparentem
  • parentalparentālis
  • parentelicparentela
adjectivethird-declension one-termination adjective
pārēns2
pārēns (genitive pārentis)
Classical[ˈpaː.rẽːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈpaː.rens]
№ 190 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. one terminationobedient
  2. one terminationsubject to

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativepārēnspārēnspārēns
genitivepārentispārentispārentis
dativepārentīpārentīpārentī
accusativepārentempārentempārēns
ablativepārentī
pārente		pārentī
pārente		pārentī
pārente
vocativepārēnspārēnspārēns
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativepārentēspārentēspārentia
genitivepārentiumpārentiumpārentium
dativepārentibuspārentibuspārentibus
accusativepārentīs
pārentēs		pārentīs
pārentēs		pārentia
ablativepārentibuspārentibuspārentibus
vocativepārentēspārentēspārentia

Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.

pārēns entis, adj. with comp.
P. of pareo, obedient : parentiores habere exercitūs.—Plur m . as subst, subjects , S.

Origins

Present active participle of pāreō.

Quick answers

What does parēns mean in Latin?
parēns, a noun, means “parent, mother, father; founder, ancestor”.
What is the genitive of parēns?
The genitive singular is parentis. parēns is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce parēns?
In classical Latin, [ˈpa.rẽːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈpaː.rens].
Which English words come from parēns?
English words that go back to Latin parēns include parent, parental and parentelic.