What does "discourage" mean?

1. (to dishearten) to make someone lose hope or confidence so they want to stop trying. 2. (to persuade against) to try to stop something from happening or to talk someone out of an idea.

Is it correct to say "My parents discouraged me to go to the party."?

No — say "My parents discouraged me from going to the party.". The verb discourage is followed by 'from' and a gerund (-ing form), not a 'to' infinitive.

discourage

US //dɪˈskɝɪdʒ// UK //dɪskˈʌɹɪdʒ// dis·cour·age

1 to dishearten (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to make someone lose hope or confidence so they want to stop trying.

to deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; to dishearten or deject. Transitive, taking a person as the direct object.

Example

The difficult math problems started to discourage the students after an hour of work.

Example

Repeated rejections from publishers began to discourage the young novelist, despite the initial praise her manuscript had received from her peers.
- dishearten
- demoralize
- daunt
- encourage
- inspire
- hearten
2 to persuade against (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to try to stop something from happening or to talk someone out of an idea.

to dissuade or deter someone from a course of action. Often used with the pattern 'discourage someone from doing something'.

Example

The high prices at the shop discourage many people from buying organic food.

Example

The government introduced a new tax on sugary drinks to discourage citizens from consuming unhealthy amounts of soda.
Pitfall

My parents discouraged me to go to the party.

My parents discouraged me from going to the party.

The verb discourage is followed by 'from' and a gerund (-ing form), not a 'to' infinitive.

Origin

From Middle French descourager (modern French décourager), from Old French descouragier, from des- and corage. By surface analysis, dis- + courage.