parlour

parlour — noun

1. a small shop, often named after the product or treatment it offers, where custom

1.nounB2
Definition

a small shop, often named after the product or treatment it offers, where customers go to buy that one thing or have that one kind of grooming or beauty work done.

Example

The new ice-cream parlour on Kingston Road serves twenty homemade flavours.

compound: ice-cream parlour

Maya booked a manicure at the nail parlour next to her office.

compound: nail parlour

Common collocations
  • ice-cream parlour
  • beauty parlour
  • nail parlour
  • tattoo parlour
  • funeral parlour
  • pizza parlour
Synonyms
  • shop

    more general; a parlour usually sells one specialised product or service

  • salon

    preferred for hair and high-end beauty work

  • store

    American and broader; rarely takes the same compound nouns

Grammar Patterns

[type] + parlour

parlour for [activity]

Usage Note

Almost always preceded by a noun naming the product or service: ice-cream / beauty / nail / tattoo / funeral / pizza parlour. Standing alone without that noun is rare in this sense.

Common Mistakes

I work at a parlour.' (unclear what kind).
I work at a beauty parlour.
speakers expect the type-noun in front.
an icecream parlour' (one word).
an ice-cream parlour' / 'an ice cream parlour
British style hyphenates or spaces the modifier.

2. an old-fashioned word for a sitting room in someone's home, especially the smart

2.nounC1
Definition

an old-fashioned word for a sitting room in someone's home, especially the smartest one near the front door, kept clean and ready so that visitors could be welcomed in.

Example

Grandmother polished the piano in the front parlour every Saturday morning.

phrase: front parlour

The vicar was shown into the parlour and offered a cup of tea.

passive welcome: shown into the parlour

Common collocations
  • front parlour
  • best parlour
  • in the parlour
  • Victorian parlour
Synonyms
  • sitting room

    the standard British modern term

  • living room

    neutral and current in both British and American English

  • drawing room

    even grander and more formal than parlour; large houses only

Grammar Patterns

in the parlour

the front parlour

Usage Note

Mostly historical or regional. In modern British and American homes, 'living room' or 'sitting room' has replaced it. Often appears with 'front', 'back' or 'best' to mark which room of the house is meant.

Common Mistakes

We watched Netflix in the parlour last night.
We watched Netflix in the living room last night.
'parlour' sounds dated for everyday modern use.

Word family

  • parlor
    nounB2
  • parley
    nounC2
  • parley
    verbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a small commercial place a customer walks into, but they sit in different corners of the language. 'Parlour' is the traditional British label and almost always rides on a type-noun in front of it: ice-cream parlour, beauty parlour, funeral parlour. 'Salon' is the modern, slightly classier choice for hair, nails and skin work — you would say 'hair salon' rather than 'hair parlour' today. 'Shop' is the everyday general term and works for any kind of retail, with no fancy connotation. 'Boutique' suggests something small, fashionable and selective, usually selling clothes or design items rather than offering a service. So a teenager getting a fringe trimmed goes to a salon; the same teenager grabbing scoops on a hot afternoon goes to an ice-cream parlour.

parlour ↗salon ↗shop ↗boutique ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • ice-cream parlour
  • beauty parlour
  • nail parlour
  • tattoo parlour
  • funeral parlour
  • pizza parlour
  • front parlour
  • back parlour

Phrases

  • the best parlour
  • the front parlour
  • show somebody into the parlour

Prepositions

  • in the parlour
  • at the parlour
  • into the parlour

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Parlour entered English from Old French 'parleor' or 'parlour', meaning a place set aside for talking, built on the verb 'parler' (to speak). It first named a small room in a monastery where monks could speak with visitors, then the polite reception room of a private house, and finally any small public place such as an ice-cream or beauty parlour. The British 'parlour' and American 'parlor' are spelling variants of the same word.