What does paroling mean?
Paroling means talking, speaking, or conversing. In contemporary English it is chiefly a literary or archaic survival rather than a common everyday word, and its use often lends a formal, old-fashioned atmosphere to a sentence. It can describe either the general activity of speech or, more specifically, people engaged in conversation. The word is especially associated with British and American literary and historical prose, although its underlying vocabulary is shared across these varieties of English. A sentence such as “They continued paroling by the fireside” conveys much the same basic meaning as “They continued talking,” but with a markedly more elevated tone. Paroling is related in origin to parley, parole, parlance, and other words ultimately connected with speech. Although rarely necessary in ordinary writing, it can be useful when an author wants to evoke a period setting, a formal register, or a deliberately archaic style.
Talking, speaking, or engaged in conversation.
"A group of scholars was paroling beneath the old oak tree."
Rare and literary; usually more characteristic of historical or deliberately traditional prose than of everyday speech.
To talk or converse.
"The delegates spent several hours paroling before reaching an agreement."
A rare present-participle or gerund form with a literary or archaic flavor.
A forgotten word for the everyday act of talking, preserved in a form that makes ordinary conversation sound unusually literary.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does paroling come from?
The word belongs to a family of English terms derived through Old French from Latin parlare, meaning “to speak.” Closely related forms include parley, parole, parlance, and parlour, although their modern meanings have diverged. Paroling has survived chiefly in literary and archaic usage.
Related word forms
How paroling is actually used
Rare and literary in modern English, with an archaic or deliberately formal tone. It may sound unusual even in contexts where its meaning is clear.
Easily confused with paroling
Paroling is a rare or archaic word meaning talking, whereas parleying is the more established present participle of parley, especially in the sense of negotiating.