parlour
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɑːlə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɑɹlɚ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)lə(ɹ)
Noun
parlour (plural parlours)
- Britain standard spelling of parlor.
- 1829, Mary Howitt, The Spider and the Fly, published 1853:
- Will you walk into my parlour, said a Spider to a Fly; / 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
- 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:
- At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
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Middle English
Alternative forms
- parler, parlere, parllour, parlore, parloure, parlowr, parlowre, parlur, parlure
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French parleor, parloir, parleoir, from Old French parler (“to speak”); equivalent to parlen + -our.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /parˈluːr/, /ˈparlur/
Noun
parlour (plural parlours)
- A room for private use, usually to the side of a building's main room.
- A room or opening for monastics to communicate with laypeople.
- (rare) A room for discussion; a meeting room.
Descendants
- English: parlor, parlour
- Scots: parlour
References
- “parlǒur, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.