parlance

English

WOTD – 29 September 2008

Etymology

From Middle English *parlaunce, from Anglo-Norman parlance, parlaunce, from parler (“to talk”) + -ance.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑː.ləns/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹ.ləns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

parlance (countable and uncountable, plural parlances)

1. A certain way of speaking, of using words; especially that associated with a particular job or interest.
   • 1836, James Fenimore Cooper, "Eclipse":

     To my childish fancy, it had seemed an imaginary flag-staff, or, in rustic parlance, the "liberty pole" of some former generation […]

   • 1845, Charles Miner, History of Wyoming, Letter IX:

     We approach the contest, still known in the common parlance of the country, as "the first Pennimite War."

   • 1909, William Elliot Griffis, The Story of New Netherland, Chapter 22:

     The tourist's impression of the country to-day is that of a transported Holland, in which the official language is Dutch and the parlance of the people is "taki-taki."

   • 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 12, in Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 2, page 200:

     At first she "ran a temperature" in American parlance, and I could not resist the exquisite caloricity of unexpected delights—Venus febriculosa—though it was a very languid Lolita that moaned and coughed and shivered in my embrace.

2. Of a word, the quality of being lexicalized; especially as jargon or slang.
   • 2020, Stanley Oluka, Performance Management System and Employee Performance in Amuria Health Centre IV, Eastern Uganda:

     Its use at a variety of levels, including the individual and organisational level, make it a varied term that has parlance in organisational development, performance management and talent management.

3. (archaic, rare) Speech, discussion or debate.
   • 1849, Lady Charlotte Guest, The Mabinogion, "Peredur the Son of Evrawc":

     And without further parlance they fought, […]

Synonyms

• jargon

Translations

A certain way of speaking (or using words)

• Bulgarian: говор (bg) m (govor)
• Chinese: 措辞 (zh) (cuòcí)
• Estonian: kõneviis
• Finnish: puhetapa (fi), -kieli (fi), -slangi (fi)
• German: Ausdrucksweise (de) f, Jargon (de) m, Redeweise (de) f, Redestil m, Sprechweise (de) f, Diktion (de) f
• Icelandic: talsmáti m, málvenja (is) f, málfar (is) n, mál (is) n
• Italian: parlata (it)
• Persian: بیان (fa) (bayân)
• Russian: манера говорить f (manera govoritʹ), говоря языком (чего-л.) (govorja jazykom (čevo-l.)), на языке (чего-л.) (na jazyke (čevo-l.))
• Slovene: žargon m
• Spanish: jerga (es) f, sociolecto m
• Turkish: deyim (tr), deyiş (tr), tâbir (tr)

Anagrams

• carplane

Old French

Alternative forms

• parlaunce (chiefly late Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

parler +‎ -ance, or from Latin parabolantia.

Noun

parlance oblique singular, f (oblique plural parlances, nominative singular parlance, nominative plural parlances)

1. discussion; debate

Descendants

• English: parlance

References

• parlance on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub