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 Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:15 am
parry • PAIR-ee • verb
1 : to ward off a weapon or blow
*2 : to evade especially by an adroit answer
Example Sentence:
The senator effectively parried all Beverly's questions about his dubious financial affairs.
Did you know?
"Parry" (which is used in fencing, among other applications) probably comes from "parez," a form of the French verb "parer," meaning "to guard or ward off." Its history can be compared with that of two other English words: "parapet" and "parasol." Those two terms go back to an Italian word ("parare") that means "to shield or guard." (A parapet shields soldiers and a parasol wards off the sun.) All three -- "parry," "parapet," and "parasol" -- can ultimately be traced to the Latin "parare," meaning "to prepare." And they're not alone. Other descendants of the Latin term include "apparatus," "disparate," "emperor," and even "prepare."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 6:51 am
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:28 pm
now why should all these be related to Latin parare when Greek came first and has many many words with the para prefix?
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