parse

See also: Parse

English

WOTD – 23 December 2018

Etymology

Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)),[1] from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”),[2] possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sell”).

Pronunciation

Verb

parse (third-person singular simple present parses, present participle parsing, simple past and past participle parsed)

  1. (linguistics, ambitransitive) 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. [from mid 16th c.]
    Synonym: construe
  2. (transitive, figurative) To examine closely; to scrutinize; to analyze.
    • 2026 March 20, Arwa Mahdawi, “Chain of Ideas by Ibram X Kendi review – anatomy of a conspiracy theory”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      Chain of Ideas, a new book by professor Ibram X Kendi, doesn’t provide a one-world encapsulation of our modern woes. But, in a meticulously researched 500 pages, it lays out an essential framework for parsing current events.
  3. (computing, ambitransitive) To split (a file or other input) into pieces of data that can be easily manipulated or stored.
  4. (computing, transitive) To resolve (a string of code or text) into its elements to determine if it conforms to a particular grammar.
  5. (computing, linguistics, intransitive) Of a string of code or text, sentence, etc.: to conform to rules of grammar, to be syntactically valid.
    This sentence doesn't parse.

Usage notes

Generally speaking, parse is an ergative verb i.e. ambitransitive with the subject of the intransitive form corresponding to the direct object of the transitive form. If a person or program can parse X into Y, then we say that X parses as Y. Note that the last sense is not quite the same as the penultimate; a string only parses if it can be parsed successfully.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

parse (plural parses)

  1. (computing, linguistics) An act of parsing; a parsing.
    The parse will fail if the program contains an unrecognised keyword.
  2. (computing, linguistics) The result of such an act; a parsing.
    This parse is incorrect and indicates a fault in the parser.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “pars, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. ^ “parse”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpar.se/
  • Rhymes: -arse
  • Hyphenation: pàr‧se

Participle

parse

  1. feminine plural of parso

Verb

parse

  1. archaic form of parve[1]: third-person singular past historic of parere

References

  1. ^ “parere2”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

Latin

Participle

parse

  1. vocative masculine singular of parsus
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