parley

The word 'parley' entered English in the late Middle English period, borrowed from the Old French verb 'parler', meaning 'to speak'. This French term itself derives from the late Latin 'parabolare', meaning 'to speak in parables' or simply 'to talk', which is rooted in the Latin 'parabola' (comparison, speech). The Latin 'parabola' originates from the Greek 'parabolē' (juxtaposition, comparison), from 'paraballein' (to throw alongside, compare). The specific military sense of a conference with an enemy, which defines the modern English usage, developed from the general notion of a formal talk or speech, reflecting the word's journey from a broad term for speaking to a specialized diplomatic term.

The word is a simplex loanword from French. It cannot be meaningfully segmented into smaller, independent morphemes based on its current English spelling.