From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
parent \par"ent\ (p[^a]r"ent or p[=a]r"ent; 277), n. [L. parens,
-entis; akin to parere to bring forth; cf. Gr. porei^n to
give, beget: cf. F. parent. Cf. Part.]
1. One who begets, or brings forth, offspring; a father or a
mother.
[1913 Webster]
Children, obey your parents in the Lord. --Eph. vi.
1.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which produces; cause; source; author; begetter; as,
idleness is the parent of vice.
[1913 Webster]
Regular industry is the parent of sobriety.
--Channing.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
parent
n 1: a father or mother; one who begets or one who gives birth
to or nurtures and raises a child; a relative who plays the
role of guardian [ant: child, kid]
2: an organism (plant or animal) from which younger ones are
obtained
v 1: bring up; "raise a family"; "bring up children" [syn:
rear, raise, bring up, nurture, parent]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
parent
mother
predecessor
<mathematics, data> The ancestor node in a tree that
points to the current node (one of its child nodes).
(2005-09-15)