Parents Quotes

Parents refers to one of the two persons from whom one is immediately biologically descended; a mother or father. It commonly describes a surrogate mother, a third person who has provided DNA samples in an IVF procedure in order to alter faulty genetic material, and a person who acts as a parent in rearing a child; a step-parent or adoptive parent, which gives the term a broader and more practical sense than a single short definition would suggest. Depending on context, it can also point to a relative, the source or origin of something, and an organism from which a plant or animal is immediately biologically descended, so the category can cover literal uses, related ideas, and more figurative extensions of the same core meaning. Taken together, these meanings present Parents as a flexible theme rather than a narrowly technical label, covering the central idea people usually mean when they use the word while still leaving room for closely related senses that appear in real language. Additional shades of meaning include sponsor, supporter, owner, protector, the object from which a child or derived object is descended; a node superior to another node, and to act as parent, to raise or rear, which reinforce how the category can stretch across adjacent but still recognizable uses of the same term.

Featured Authors on Parents

Photo of Julie A., M.A. Ross and Judy Corcoran

Julie A., M.A. Ross and Judy Corcoran