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parse

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "parse", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "parse" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "parse" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

parse is aEnglishverb. It means: To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically. Pronounced /pɑːz/. Often confused with pas and PRS.

Key facts for parse
PropertyValue
Headwordparse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/pɑːz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#29,782
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of parse in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for parse is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɑːz/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,782 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for parse, with forms such as "aprse", "pares", and "parrse". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pas", "PRS", "part", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)), from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sell”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is parse, spelled P-A-R-S-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically.
  2. 2
    To examine closely; to scrutinize.
  3. 3
    To split (a file or other input) into pieces of data that can be easily manipulated or stored.
  4. 4
    To resolve (a string of code or text) into its elements to determine if it conforms to a particular grammar.
  5. 5
    Of a string of code or text, sentence, etc.: to conform to rules of grammar, to be syntactically valid.

Etymology

Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)), from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sell”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aprse,pares,parrse,parsse,pasre,pparse,prase

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for parse

Misspelling Variants of "parse"

aprse5pares5parrse6parsse6pasre5pparse6prase5
Misspelling Variants of "parse"

Frequency rank: #29,782 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "parse"?
"parse" is spelled P-A-R-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pɑːz/.
What does "parse" mean?
As a verb, "parse" means: To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically.
What words are commonly confused with "parse"?
"parse" is commonly confused with "pas", "PRS", "part". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "parse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "parse" is /pɑːz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "parse"?
Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)), from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sel... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.