Join Us On

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Dictionary

Thesaurus

Medical

Scrabble^®

Spanish Central

Browse Dictionary Browse Thesaurus

Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android

Dictionary

¹parole

noun pa·role \pə-ˈrōl\

: permission given to a prisoner to leave prison before the end of a sentence usually as a reward for behaving well

Full Definition of PAROLE

: a promise made with or confirmed by a pledge of one's honor; especially : the promise of a prisoner of war to fulfill stated conditions in consideration of his release

: a watchword given only to officers of the guard and of the day

: a conditional release of a prisoner serving an indeterminate or unexpired sentence

a : language viewed as a specific individual usage : performance

b : a linguistic act — compare langue

— parole adjective

See parole defined for English-language learners

See parole defined for kids

Origin of PAROLE

French, speech, parole, from Middle French, from Late Latin parabola speech — more at parable

First Known Use: 1531

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

Rhymes with PAROLE

airhole, armhole, atoll, bankroll, beadroll, bedroll, black hole, blackpoll, blowhole, borehole, bunghole, cajole, catchpole, charcoal, chuckhole, condole, console, control, creole, Creole, dipole, drumroll, dry hole, Dutch roll, egg roll, enroll, ensoul, extol, eyehole, field goal, fishbowl, flagpole, foxhole, funk hole, hard coal, half sole, heart-whole, hellhole, Huichol, inscroll, insole, in whole, keyhole, kneehole, knothole, leaf roll, logroll, loophole, manhole, maypole, midsole, Mongol, outsole, patrol, payroll, peephole, pesthole, pinhole, pistole, pitchpole, porthole, posthole, pothole, redpoll, ridgepole, Sheol, shot hole, sinkhole, ski pole, slipsole, snap roll, sotol, sound hole, spring roll, tadpole, taphole, thumbhole, top-hole, touchhole, unroll, washbowl, weep hole, white hole, wormhole

²parole

verb

: to release (a prisoner) on parole

pa·roledpa·rol·ing

Full Definition of PAROLE

transitive verb

: to release (a prisoner) on parole

See parole defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of PAROLE

1781

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

PAROLE[1] Defined for Kids

parole

noun pa·role \pə-ˈrōl\

Definition of PAROLE for Kids

: an early release of a prisoner

Medical Dictionary

parole

noun pa·role \pə-ˈrōl\

Medical Definition of PAROLE

: a conditional release given to a psychiatric patient in a hospital before discharge enabling the patient to visit freely various designated areas on the hospital grounds or beyond its limits

—pa·rol·able adjective

—parole transitive verb, pa·roled pa·rol·ing