Chapter Paraxanthin to Parenthesis of P by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Parent
(Par"ent) n. [L. parens, - entis; akin to parere to bring forth; cf. Gr. to give, beget: cf. F. parent. Cf. 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.

Parent cell. (Biol.) See Mother cell, under Mother, also Cytula. — Parent nucleus (Biol.), a nucleus which, in cell division, divides, and gives rise to two or more daughter nuclei. See Karyokinesis, and Cell division, under Division.

Parentage
(Par"ent*age) n. [Cf. F. parentage relationship.] Descent from parents or ancestors; parents or ancestors considered with respect to their rank or character; extraction; birth; as, a man of noble parentage. "Wilt thou deny thy parentage?" Shak.

Though men esteem thee low of parentage.

Milton.

Parental
(Pa*ren"tal) a. [L. parentalis.]

1. Of or pertaining to a parent or to parents; as, parental authority; parental obligations.

2. Becoming to, or characteristic of, parents; tender; affectionate; devoted; as, parental care.

The careful course and parental provision of nature.

Sir T. Browne.

Parentally
(Pa*ren"tal*ly), adv. In a parental manner.

Parentation
(Par`en*ta"tion) n. [L. parentatio, fr. parentare to offer a solemn sacrifice in honor of deceased parents. See Parent.] Something done or said in honor of the dead; obsequies. [Obs.] Abp. Potter.

Parentele
(Par"en`tele`) n. [F. parentèle, L. parentela.] Kinship; parentage. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Parenthesis
(Pa*ren"the*sis) n.; pl. Parentheses [NL., fr. Gr. fr. to put in beside, insert; para` beside + in + to put, place. See Para-, En-, 2, and Thesis.]

1. A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines or dashes. "Seldom mentioned without a derogatory parenthesis." Sir T. Browne.

Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you away into a long parenthesis.

Watts.

2. (Print.) One of the curved lines which inclose a parenthetic word or phrase.

Parenthesis, in technical grammar, is that part of a sentence which is inclosed within the recognized sign; but many phrases and sentences which are punctuated by commas are logically parenthetical. In def. 1, the phrase "by way of comment or explanation" is inserted for explanation, and the sentence would be grammatically complete without it. The present tendency is to avoid using the distinctive marks, except when confusion would arise from a less conspicuous separation.