The word 'parliament' is, at bottom, a word about talking. It descends from Old French 'parlement' (a speaking, a discussion, a conference, a deliberative assembly), from the verb 'parler' (to speak). The institution that governs nations was named not for its power but for its principal activity: speech. A parliament is a place where people come to talk.
The Old French verb 'parler' (to speak) has a remarkable etymology of its own. It descends from Late Latin 'parabolāre' (to speak, to talk), a verb derived from Latin 'parabola' (a comparison, a parable, a speech), which was borrowed from Greek 'parabolē' (a placing beside, a comparison, a juxtaposition), from 'para-' (beside) + 'ballein' (to throw). The literal meaning of the Greek ancestor is 'a throwing beside' -- a juxtaposition of one thing with another for the purpose of comparison. How 'to throw beside' became 'to speak' is a story of Christian influence: in Church
The family of words descended from this root spans high politics and casual conversation. 'Parlor' (from Old French 'parloir,' a room for speaking) was originally a room in a monastery where monks, bound by silence elsewhere, were permitted to speak with visitors. 'Parley' (from Old French 'parler' via 'parlée') is a discussion or conference, especially between enemies under truce. 'Parole' (from French 'parole,' a word, a spoken promise) entered English legal usage as release from prison on one's word of honor. 'Parable' (from
More distantly, 'palaver' -- meaning prolonged, idle discussion -- entered English from Portuguese 'palavra' (word, speech), which descends from the same Late Latin 'parabola.' Portuguese traders used 'palavra' for the extended negotiations they conducted with African leaders, and the word entered English in the eighteenth century with connotations of tedious, drawn-out talk.
The first English Parliament, in the institutional sense, met in 1265, when Simon de Montfort summoned an assembly that included commoners alongside nobles and clergy. The word had been used in English since about 1239, initially meaning any formal discussion or conference. Its restriction to the specific legislative institution developed over the following century as the Parliament of England consolidated its identity and powers.
The word's etymology carries a democratic implication that predates modern democracy. By naming the governing assembly after the act of speaking -- not after power, authority, or command -- the word embeds the principle that legitimate governance proceeds through discussion. A parliament does not decree; it speaks. The root metaphor is not the sword or the scepter but the open mouth.