Parlor

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈpɑːlÉ™/
• US IPA: /ˈpɑɹləɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)lÉ™(r)

Alternative forms

• parlour British

Origin

From Anglo-Norman parlur and Old French parleor, from the verb parler ("to speak"). or Old English parlour, parlur, French parloir, Late Latin parlatorium. ?

Full definition of parlor

Noun

1. The living room of a house, or a room for entertaining guests; a room for talking.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 12, So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all.
2. (archaic) The apartment in a monastery or nunnery where the residents are permitted to meet and converse with each other or with visitors from the outside.
3. A room for lounging; a sitting-room; a drawing room.
4. (archaic) A comfortable room in a public house.
5. (chiefly Southern US) A covered open-air patio.
6. A shop or other business selling goods specified by context.
7. A shed used for milking cattle.

Derived terms

• beauty parlor
• beer parlor
• betting parlor
• funeral parlor
• ice cream parlor
• massage parlor
• parlormaid
• parlor game
• parlor trick
• pigs in the parlour