*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of pare

From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“to bear, to give birth to; to spawn, p

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife. · To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off. · To trim the hoof of a horse. · To sharpen a pencil.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“to bear, to give birth to; to spawn, produce, beget; to procure, acquire”)), from a Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*per-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionparenenm
  • Derivation mentionparerfro · to arrange, prepare, trim
  • Derivation mentionparōla · to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose
  • Derivation mention*per-ine-pro · to bring forward, bring forth
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*per-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "paren"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English paren"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "parer",
        "t": "to arrange, prepare, trim"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "parō",
        "t": "to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*per-",
        "t": "to bring forward, bring forth"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "paren",
      "paren#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "parer",
      "parer#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "parō",
      "paro#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "pariō",
      "pario#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*per-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/per-"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.",
        "To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off.",
        "To trim the hoof of a horse.",
        "To sharpen a pencil."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "Ireland",
        "slang"
      ],
      "recordId": "a90b0560be73f037a6b6eb704957e7b49ccc09531475a9cc11543ba07d11bf1e",
      "rawRecordSha256": "db7091a10936b5c277ba5ef9c78b4172a2782f5b7030fb7b72df91c8ac1cd741",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 160316
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for pare →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGFyZQ