parole

¹

[ puh-rohl ]

noun

1. Penology.
   1. the conditional release of a person from prison prior to the end of the maximum sentence imposed.
   2. such release or its duration.
   3. an official document authorizing such a release.
2. Military.
   1. the promise, usually written, of a prisoner of war, that if released they either will return to custody at a specified time or will not again take up arms against their captors.
   2. (formerly) any password given by authorized personnel in passing by a guard.
3. word of honor given or pledged.
4. (in U.S. immigration laws) the temporary admission of non-U.S. citizens into the United States for emergency reasons or on grounds considered in the public interest, as authorized by and at the discretion of the attorney general.

verb (used with object)

, pa·roled, pa·rol·ing.

1. to place or release on parole.
2. to admit (a non-U.S. citizen) into the United States for emergency reasons or on grounds considered in the public interest:

   An increased number of Hungarian refugees were paroled into the United States.

adjective

1. of or relating to parole or parolees:

   a parole record.

parole

²

[ pa-rawl ]

noun

, French.

1. language as manifested in the actual utterances produced by speakers of a language ( langue ).

parole

/ pəˈrəʊl; pəˌrəʊˈliː /

noun

1. 1. the freeing of a prisoner before his sentence has expired, on the condition that he is of good behaviour
   2. the duration of such conditional release
2. a promise given by a prisoner, as to be of good behaviour if granted liberty or partial liberty
3. a variant spelling of parol
4. military a password
5. linguistics language as manifested in the individual speech acts of particular speakers Compare langue performance competence
6. on parole
   1. conditionally released from detention
   2. (of a person) under scrutiny, esp for a recurrence of an earlier shortcoming

verb

1. to place (a person) on parole

Derived Forms

• parolee, noun
• paˈrolable, adjective

Other Words From

• pa·rola·ble adjective
• unpa·rola·ble adjective
• unpa·roled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of parole¹

First recorded in 1610–20; from Middle French, short for parole d'honneur “word of honor”. See parol

Word History and Origins

Origin of parole¹

C17: from Old French, from the phrase parole d'honneur word of honour; parole from Late Latin parabola speech

Example Sentences

Otherwise, Gong faces a maximum sentence of life without parole.

From Los Angeles Times

Although IPP sentences have since been abolished and Lawrence's minimum term was just eight months, he has no idea when or if he will be released on parole.

From BBC

He was given a life sentence, but told he would need to serve 13 years before he could be considered for parole.

From BBC

But by her reckoning, the system has — belatedly — gotten a few things right: Last year, after reviewing a copy of the recantation, the state released Duran on parole.

From Los Angeles Times

But Harris, who had made opposition to capital punishment a key part of her political campaign to become the city’s top prosecutor, instead decided to pursue a life sentence without parole.

From BBC

Related Words

• let out
• liberate
• pardon