Parlay or parley?
parlay is a verb meaning “To carry forward the stake and winnings from a bet on to a subsequent wager or…”; parley is a noun meaning “A conference, especially one between enemies”. Use parlay as a verb and parley as a noun (parley is also a verb: “To have a discussion, especially one between enemies”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) parley is about as common as parlay.
What is the difference between parlay and parley?
| parlay | parley | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | To carry forward the stake and winnings from a bet on to a subsequent wager or series of wagers To increase (an asset, money, etc.) by gambling or investing in a daring manner A bet or series of bets where the stake and winnings are cumulatively carried forward; an accumulator | A conference, especially one between enemies To have a discussion, especially one between enemies |
| Example | Shall we parlay the value of our products? | none recorded |
| Forms | parlays, parlaying, parlayed | parleys |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɑːleɪ/ /ˈpɑɹˌleɪ/ /ˈpɑɹli/ | /ˈpɑːli/ /ˈpɑɹli/ /ˈpaɾle/ |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: parlay and parley in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of parlay and parley
parlay
- 1
To carry forward the stake and winnings from a bet on to a subsequent wager or series of wagers
- 2
A bet or series of bets where the stake and winnings are cumulatively carried forward; an accumulator
- 3
To increase (an asset, money, etc.) by gambling or investing in a daring manner
Shall we parlay the value of our products?
- 4
To convert (a situation, thing, etc.) into something better
- 5
Alternative spelling of parley (“to have a discussion, especially one between enemies”)
parley
- 1
A conference, especially one between enemies
- 2
To have a discussion, especially one between enemies
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, parlay or parley?
parlay appears about once in every 3 million words; parley about once in every 2 million words.
parlay about once in every 3 million wordsparley about once in every 2 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search parlay vs parley?
“parlay vs parley” is searched about 90 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“parley vs parlay”, “parlay or parley”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.