parlance

noun

par·​lance ˈpär-lən(t)s 

1

: speech

especially : formal debate or parley

… battle and not parlance should determine his right and title.

—John Speed

2

: manner or mode of speech : idiom

The company's computer system had, in computer parlance, "crashed."

Examples of parlance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Referred to in real estate parlance as a zombie building, this 42-story giant, a modernist masterpiece from the late 1960s designed by William Pereira, is a hollow shell devoid of tenants but for three small businesses on the ground floor. —Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2024

Jung had so many insights that have entered everyday parlance. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 28 June 2024

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, a key player as the highest-ranking senator, said Democrats will move forward with the best ways to use unspent federal money from the coronavirus pandemic relief fund under the American Rescue Plan Act, known in the common parlance as ARPA. —Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2024

Assistant coach Gianni Vio is a specialist in set pieces — soccer parlance primarily encompassing free kicks and corner kicks but also throw-ins and goal kicks. —Steven Goff, Washington Post, 27 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English parlaunce, borrowed from Anglo-French parlance, parlaunce "speech, gossip, debate," from parler "to speak, talk" + -aunce, -ance -ance — more at parley entry 2

Note: Parlance is much more amply attested in Anglo-French than in continental Old and Middle French, especially after ca. 1300. The Dictionnaire du moyen français has only marginal evidence for the word after 1350.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing parlance

• in common parlance

Kids Definition

parlance

noun

par·​lance ˈpär-lən(t)s 

: manner of speech