parlay

1 of 2

verb

par·​lay ˈpär-ˌlā  -lē 

parlayed; parlaying; parlays

transitive verb

1

: to bet in a parlay

2

a

: to exploit successfully

He hoped to parlay his basketball skills into a college scholarship.

b

: to increase or otherwise transform into something of much greater value

She parlayed $5,000 and years of hard work into a multimillion-dollar company.

parlay

2 of 2

noun

: a series of two or more bets so set up in advance that the original stake plus its winnings are risked on the successive wagers

broadly : the fresh risking of an original stake together with its winnings

Did you know?

In gambling, parlay is used for a series of bets in which a person places a bet, then puts the original stake of money and all of its winnings on new wagers. The noun comes from the French name for such bets: paroli. Be careful not to mix up the verb parlay with the similar word parley, meaning "to speak with another or to confer."

Examples of parlay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Grande parlayed those early successes to become one of the bestselling music artists of all time — a pop music career marked by nine Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits and two Grammy wins (from 15 nominations), among other accolades. —Angelique Jackson, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024

And if The Substance is also able to parlay Demi’s success into nominations for its makeup/hairstyling (possible!), visual effects, or sound design (less likely!), that would be even more points. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2024

Noun

BetMGM also offers a boost on eligible parlay wagers for the NFL and other sports. —Tim Van Straten, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024

Bettors can make parlay wagers that link Pennsylvania's election results with season championship wins by the Eagles, Steelers, 76ers, Penguins and Flyers, merging sports fandom with election anticipation. —Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

verbal derivative (perhaps with conformation to parley entry 2 or French parler "to speak") of paroli "series of bets set up so that the original stake and winnings are placed on successive wagers," borrowed from French, borrowed from Italian, plural of parolo (stress on first syllable), of uncertain origin

Note: Apparently the earliest attestation of the Italian word is in the Italian-English dictionary of John Florio, Queen Anna's New World of Words, or Dictionarie of the Italian and English Tongues (London, 1611), in which Pároli is defined as "a grand part set or cast at dice," with a corresponding verb Paroláre "to set or play at a grand part at dice." French paroli first appears as a gloss of the Italian word in the Italian-French dictionary of Antoine Oudin, Recherches italiennes et françoises, ou Dictionnaire, contenant outre les mots ordinaires, une quantité de Proverbes & de Phrases (Paris, 1640), where Italian Paroli is glossed as "paroli, aux dez" ("paroli, at dice"). C. Battisti and G. Alessio (Dizionario etimologico italiano, Florence, 1954) characterize parolo as Neapolitan ("voce napoletano") and adduce additionally Sicilian pàrula "doppia posta nel giuoco del faraone o bassetta" ("double stake in the game of faro or basset [a game similar to faro]"), which they aver to be a derivative of paro "equal." Opposing these conjectures is the entry párolo in a list of dialect words from Lucca in Tuscany, along with their etymologies, compiled by Silvio Pieri ("Appunti etimologici," Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie, Band 30 [1903], p. 302). Pieri proposes that the word is a univerbation of paro lo "I offer it (hold it out)," referring to the sum wagered. This etymology is seconded by the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, and the Trésor de la langue française.

Noun

derivative of parlay entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1904, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

parlay

verb

par·​lay

ˈpär-ˌlā,

-lē

: to increase or change into something of much greater value

Etymology

Verb

from parlay "to make a series of bets so that winnings from earlier bets are all wagered on later contests," from French paroli (noun) "a parlayed bet," from an Italian dialect word paroli, plural of parolo "a parlayed bet," perhaps from para "equal"