IV. Meanings of the Plural of Parens

The plural of parens is a convenient word for the meaning pater et mater or patres et matres. Neither patres nor matres will properly express this meaning. Although the plural of parens proves to have a variety of meanings, we may well expect the meanings ‘father and mother’ and ‘fathers and mothers’ to predominate. Moreover, because of its convenience we may expect the plural of parens to occur more often relatively than the singular.