parse

Etymology

Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)), from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sell”).

verb

1. (linguistics, transitive, intransitive) To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically.
2. (transitive) To examine closely; to scrutinize.
3. (computing, transitive, intransitive) To split (a file or other input) into pieces of data that can be easily manipulated or stored.
4. (computing, transitive) To resolve (a string of code or text) into its elements to determine if it conforms to a particular grammar.
5. (computing, linguistics, intransitive) Of a string of code or text, sentence, etc.: to conform to rules of grammar, to be syntactically valid.
   This sentence doesn't parse.

noun

1. (computing, linguistics) An act of parsing; a parsing.
   The parse will fail if the program contains an unrecognised keyword.
2. (computing, linguistics) The result of such an act; a parsing.
   This parse is incorrect and indicates a fault in the parser.