They ended parle, and both addressed for fight.
Milton.
Par"ley (?), n.; pl. Parleys (#). [F. parler speech, talk, fr. parler
to speak, LL. parabolare, fr. L. parabola a comparison, parable, in
LL., a word. See Parable, and cf. Parliament, Parlor.] Mutual discourse
or conversation; discussion; hence, an oral conference with an enemy,
as with regard to a truce.
We yield on parley, but are stormed in vain.
Dryden.
To beat a parley (Mil.), to beat a drum, or sound a trumpet, as a
signal for holding a conference with the enemy.
Par"ley, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Parleyed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Parleying.]
To speak with another; to confer on some point of mutual concern; to
discuss orally; hence, specifically, to confer orally with an enemy; to
treat with him by words, as on an exchange of prisoners, an armistice,
or terms of peace.
They are at hand, To parley or to fight; therefore prepare.
Shak.
Par"lia*ment (?), n. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak;
cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.] 1. A parleying; a
discussion; a conference. [Obs.]
But first they held their parliament.
Rom. of R.
2. A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an
assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to
make laws.
They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a
parliament of Gauls.
Golding.
3. The assembly of the three estates of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and the
representatives of the commons, sitting in the House of Lords and the
House of Commons, constituting the legislature, when summoned by the
royal authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to enact
and repeal laws.
Thought the sovereign is a constituting branch of Parliament, the word
is generally used to denote the three estates named above.
4. In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several
principal judicial courts.
Parliament heel, the inclination of a ship when made to careen by
shifting her cargo or ballast. -- Parliament hinge (Arch.), a hinge
with so great a projection from the wall or frame as to allow a door or
shutter to swing back flat against the wall. -- Long Parliament, Rump
Parliament. See under Long, and Rump.