parental unit

pa·ren·tal u·nit

P p

Definitions of parental unit words

adjective parental unit of or relating to a parent. 1
adjective parental unit proper to or characteristic of a parent: parental feelings. 1
adjective parental unit having the relation of a parent. 1
adjective parental unit Genetics. pertaining to the sequence of generations preceding the filial generation, each generation being designated by a P followed by a subscript number indicating its place in the sequence. 1
noun parental unit Informal. one's parent (often preceded by the): I'm headed for a vacation with the parentals. 1

before 1615

One of the 41% oldest English words

1615-25; < Latin parentālis “of, belonging to parents,” equivalent to parent- parent + -ālis -al1

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 91% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?