Thesaurus article: your parents

your parents

Your parents are your mother and father. They can either be your biological parents or your adoptive parents, that is the parents who legally took you into their own family and take care of you as their own child.

My parents died when I was young.

Some children are raised by grandparents or other family members, instead of their biological parents.

When he was 7 months old, his mother gave him up to his adoptive parents.

Mother or father is often used instead of parent. Mother refers to a female parent, and father to a male parent.

Have you met my mother?

My father fully supports my life choices.

My mother and father met in 1995.

More commonly people refer to their parents as their mum in UK English, or mom in US English, and their dad in both UK and US English. These words are more informal than mother and father.

UK My mum and dad go there every year.

US His eyes filled with tears when he saw his mom and dad.

I'll ask my dad if I can borrow the car.

There are many nicknames for parents. Young children sometimes call their mother mummy in UK English or mommy in US English, and they call their father daddy. Mama and papa are also used. These words are old-fashioned in UK English, but informal in US English.