Parley

Not to be confused with Parlay.
For other uses, see Parley (disambiguation).

The Parley by Frederic Remington, 1903, depicting a settler parleying with a Native American.
Look up parley in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A parley (from French: parler – "to speak") is a discussion or conference, especially one designed to end an argument or hostilities between two groups of people. As a verb, the term can be used in both past and present tense; in present tense the term is referred to as parleying.[1][2][3][4] In some cases, opposing parties would signal their intent to invoke parley by using a white flag,[5] however the use of a white flag to invoke or request parley is not considered mandatory.

The term parley has been used to refer to numerous high-profile meetings of the 20th century, including the London and Paris Conferences held in 1954 to determine the status of West Germany.[6]

  1. ^ "parley". Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "parley". Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "parley". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, United States: Merriam-Webster. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  4. ^ "parley". Collins English Dictionary. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  5. ^ "The Avalon Project - Laws of War : Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague II); July 29, 1899". avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  6. ^ "At NATO, a diplomatic triumph for Dulles". Life. New York City, United States: Henry Luce. May 19, 1957. Retrieved November 15, 2020.