"conference, speech," especially with an enemy, mid-15c., from Middle French parlée, from fem. past participle of Old French parler "to speak" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *paraulare, from Late Latin parabolare "to speak (in parables)," from parabola "speech, discourse," from Latin parabola "comparison" (see parable).

late 14c., "to speak, talk, confer," probably a separate borrowing of Old French parler "to speak" (see parley, n.). Related: Parleyed; parleying. Meaning "to discuss terms" is 1560s, from the noun.