English
parlor
Parlor comes from Old French parler ‘to speak’, and goes back to Early Medieval Latin parabolāre.
- Early Medieval Latinmodernparabolāre
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400parler‘to speak’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400parleor
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500parlour‘a room for private use, usually to the side of a building's main room’
- Englishearliest quotation 1913parlor
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Early Medieval Latinmodernparabolāre
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400parler‘to speak’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400parleor
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500parlour‘a room for private use, usually to the side of a building's main room’
- Englishearliest quotation 1913parlor
Earliest quotation: 1913, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, New York: “So, after a spell, he decided to make the…”
Linked words
through Old French parler ‘to speak’
Today it means
noun The living room of a house, or a room for entertaining guests; a room for talking; a sitting-room or drawing room.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Early Medieval Latin parabolāre / parlor