parents

Noun

parents

1. Plural form of parent.; one's father and mother.

Synonyms

• folks
• parentals
• old foggies
• 'rents

Verb

parents

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of parent.

Anagrams

• entraps
• Napster
• panters
• pastern
• trepans

French

Noun

parents m. pl.

1. Plural form of parent.

Anagrams

• arpents

A parent (from Latin: parēns = parent) is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the mother or the father figure of a child (NOTE: "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child. In all human societies, the biological mother and father are both responsible for raising their young. However, some parents may not be biologically related to their children. An adoptive parent is one who nurtures and raises the offspring of the biological parents but is not actually biologically related to the child. Children without adoptive parents can be raised by their grandparents or other family members.

Biological vs. non-biological parentage

Like mothers, fathers may be categorised according to their biological, social or legal relationship with the child. Historically, the biological relationship paternity has been determinative of fatherhood. However, proof of paternity has been intrinsically problematic and so social rules often determined who would be regarded as a father e.g. the husband of the mother.

Parenting

Parenting is the process of raising and educating a child from birth until adulthood.

Sourced

• Parenting is among the most personal choices anyone ever makes. At the same time, no other individual decision has as significant a societal impact. Finding a careful balance between personal autonomy and the public welfare is often a considerable challenge.
  • Jacob M. Appel, bioethicist and medical historian, Motherhood: Is It Ever Too Late?, July 15, 2009.

• Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children's minds. It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage through their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If you could keep awake (but of course you can't) you would see your own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers. You would see her on her knees, I expect, lingering humourously over some of your contents, wondering where on earth you had picked this thing up, making discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to her cheek as if it were a kitten, and hurriedly stowing that out of sight. When you wake up in the morning, the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind; and on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on.
  • J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan (1904)

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Sat Sep 4 00:16:24 2010