Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of parole

parole(n.)

1610s, "word of honor," especially "promise by a prisoner of war not to escape if allowed to go about at liberty, or not to take up arms again if allowed to return home," from French parole "word, speech" (in parole d'honneur "word of honor") from Vulgar Latin *paraula "speech, discourse," from Latin parabola "comparison," from Greek parabole "a comparison, parable," literally "a throwing beside," hence "a juxtaposition" (see parable).

The sense of "conditional release of a prisoner before full term" is attested by 1908 in criminal slang. An earlier term for a similar thing was ticket of leave.

also from 1610s

parole(v.)

1716, from parole (n.). Originally it was what the prisoner did ("pledge"), but this sense is obsolete; its transitive meaning "put on parole, allow to go at liberty on parole" is attested by 1782. Meaning "release (a prisoner) on his own recognizance" is by 1888. Related: Paroled; paroling.

also from 1716

Entries linking to parole

parable(n.)

"allegorical or metaphorical narrative, usually having a moral for instruction," late 13c., parabol, modern form from early 14c., "saying or story in which something is expressed in terms of something else," from Old French parable "parable, parabolic style in writing" (13c.), from Latin parabola "comparison," from Greek parabolē "a comparison, parable," literally "a throwing beside," hence "a juxtaposition," from para- "alongside" (see para- (1)) + bolē "a throwing, casting, beam, ray," related to ballein "to throw" (from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach").

Rendered in Old English as bispell. In Vulgar Latin, parabola took on the meaning "word," hence Italian parlare, French parler "to speak" (see parley (n.)).

palaver(n.)

1733 (implied in palavering), "a long talk, a conference, a tedious discussion," sailors' slang, from Portuguese palavra "word, speech, talk," from a metathesis of Late Latin parabola "speech, discourse," from Latin parabola "comparison" (see parable). A doublet of parole.

In West Africa the Portuguese word became a traders' term for "negotiating with the natives," and apparently English picked up the word there. (The Spanish cognate, palabra, appears 16c.-17c. in Spanish phrases used in English.) The meaning "idle profuse talk" is recorded by 1748. The verb, "indulge in palaver," is by 1733, from the noun. Related: Palavering.