Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

parent

parent (pâr"ent or pār"ent; 277) , noun

[Latin parens, -entis; akin to parere to bring forth; compare Greek porei^n to give, beget: compare French parent. Compare Part.]

1.
One who begets, or brings forth, offspring; a father or a mother.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord. — Eph. vi. 1
2.
That which produces; cause; source; author; begetter; as, idleness is the parent of vice.
Regular industry is the parent of sobriety. — Channing
Collocations (2)
Parent cell (Biology) , See Mother cell, under Mother, also Cytula.
Parent nucleus (Biology) , a nucleus which, in cell division, divides, and gives rise to two or more daughter nuclei. See Karyokinesis, and Cell division, under Division.