English Reference
Noun

parlance

n. uncountable
C2 Proficiency US /ˈpɑɹɫəns/ UK /pˈɑːləns/ par·lance UK spelling parlances

n.the way people in a specific group or place talk about something. It is often used to describe the special words or phrases used by experts or people from a certain area.

n.the manner of speaking or the vocabulary characteristic of a particular group, profession, or social class. Often used in the phrase 'in common parlance' to indicate how a term is generally understood by the public.


SIMPLE

In common parlance, the word means something different than it does in science.

CONTEXTUAL

The legal team explained the complex contract in plain English, as the technical parlance of the law can be confusing for non-experts.

COMPLEX

While the term was once used in the parlance of medieval scholars to describe a specific type of logic, it has since been replaced by more modern linguistic terminology.

In the parlance of the current Left, Arab Muslims “stole” their present homelands in the Middle East and North Africa from Romans and Greeks, who had predated them by some 800 years.

Toronto Sun· 23 Aug 2026

From Middle English *parlaunce, from Anglo-Norman parlance, parlaunce, from parler (“to talk”) + -ance.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin xno parlance
Level C2 · Proficiency
Frequency Occasional
Updated