Parole
/pəˈroʊl/noun
A conditional release from prison before a sentence is completed, or a word of honor.
Did you know?Parole comes from French and ultimately from Latin *parabola*, meaning “speech” or “comparison,” which is also the same ancient stream that gave English the word *parable*.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰel-
“to speak, sound, or make a call”
Classical Greek
Greek
παραβολή (parabolḗ)
“a comparison, illustration, or saying”
Late Latin
Latin
parabola
“speech, discourse, or a figure of speech”
Old French
Old French
parole
“speech, word, promise, or verbal pledge”
Middle English
English
parole
“a word, promise, or verbal assurance”
Modern English
English
parole
“conditional release from prison; a spoken pledge or word of honor”