parkour

English

WOTD – 3 December 2008

Animation of a monkey vault, a basic parkour technique.

Etymology

Borrowed from French parkour, altered spelling of parcours (“course, route”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɑːˈkʊə/, /pɑːˈkɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɑɹˈkʊɹ/, (pour–poor merger) /pɑɹˈkoɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)

Noun

parkour (uncountable)

1. (sports) An athletic discipline, in which practitioners traverse any environment in the most efficient way possible using their physical abilities, and which commonly involves running, jumping, vaulting, rolling, flipping, and other similar physical movements.
   • 2022 June 16, Issy Ronald, “Meet the parkour athletes defying fear and gravity at Red Bull Art of Motion”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 26 June 2022:

     On Astypalea, the possibilities for parkour routines are endless, as illustrated by the variety of tricks each athlete unveiled at Art of Motion.

Derived terms

• parkourist

Translations

athletic discipline

• Arabic: وَثَابَة f (waṯāba)
• Catalan: parkour (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 跑酷 (paau² huk⁶)

  Mandarin: 跑酷 (zh) (pǎokù)

• Czech: parkour m
• Dutch: parkour (nl)
• Esperanto: parkuro
• Finnish: parkour (fi)
• French: parkour (fr) m
• German: Parkour (de) m
• Greek: παρκούρ (el) n (parkoúr)
• Hebrew: פארקור m (parqur)
• Ido: parkuro (io)
• Indonesian: parkur (id)
• Japanese: パルクール (parukūru)
• Korean: 파쿠르 (pakureu)
• Lithuanian: parkūras m
• Persian: پارکور (pârkur)
• Polish: parkour (pl) m
• Portuguese: parkour m, parcur m (rare)
• Russian: паркур (ru) m (parkur)
• Slovak: parkour m, parkúr m (rare)
• Spanish: parkour (es)
• Swedish: parkour (sv)
• Turkish: parkur (tr)

Verb

parkour (third-person singular simple present parkours, present participle parkouring, simple past and past participle parkoured)

1. (sports, transitive, intransitive) To freerun; to use parkour (to move over).
   • 2008 March 24, Tim Bennison, quotee, “Prototype [preview]”, in Xbox 360‎^[2]:

     It's about running at 100mph through the world, then parkouring up an exploding cube van that's 100ft in the air, bouncing off it and hitting the wall and keeping on going.

   • 2009 October 19, Stephen Davies, Hacking Timbuktu, Andersen Press, →ISBN, →OL, ch. 24:

     They had parkoured seven roofs, clambered down a mango tree, and crossed over the bridge in the back of a donkey cart, unnoticed even by the driver.

   • 2013 March 25, Aaron Lindberg, “Death Defying Photos Of Mustang Wanted”, in Fstoppers‎^[3], archived from the original on 27 June 2014:

     The daring Ukrainian can be found on his website dangling off of tall buildings with one hand, scaling bridges and parkouring through urban landscapes in search of a personal thrill.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:parkour.

See also

• free running
• traceur

Finnish

Etymology

From French parkour.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɑrkour/, [ˈpɑ̝rko̞ur]
• Rhymes: -ɑrkour
• Syllabification^(key): par‧ko‧ur
• Hyphenation^(key): par‧ko‧ur

Noun

parkour

1. parkour

Declension

Inflection of parkour (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		parkour	parkourit
genitive		parkourin	parkourien
partitive		parkouria	parkoureja
illative		parkouriin	parkoureihin
		singular	plural
nominative		parkour	parkourit
accusative	nom.	parkour	parkourit
	gen.	parkourin
genitive		parkourin	parkourien
partitive		parkouria	parkoureja
inessive		parkourissa	parkoureissa
elative		parkourista	parkoureista
illative		parkouriin	parkoureihin
adessive		parkourilla	parkoureilla
ablative		parkourilta	parkoureilta
allative		parkourille	parkoureille
essive		parkourina	parkoureina
translative		parkouriksi	parkoureiksi
abessive		parkouritta	parkoureitta
instructive		—	parkourein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of parkour (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative parkourini parkourini accusative nom. parkourini parkourini gen. parkourini genitive parkourini parkourieni partitive parkouriani parkourejani inessive parkourissani parkoureissani elative parkouristani parkoureistani illative parkouriini parkoureihini adessive parkourillani parkoureillani ablative parkouriltani parkoureiltani allative parkourilleni parkoureilleni essive parkourinani parkoureinani translative parkourikseni parkoureikseni abessive parkourittani parkoureittani instructive — — comitative — parkoureineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative parkourisi parkourisi accusative nom. parkourisi parkourisi gen. parkourisi genitive parkourisi parkouriesi partitive parkouriasi parkourejasi inessive parkourissasi parkoureissasi elative parkouristasi parkoureistasi illative parkouriisi parkoureihisi adessive parkourillasi parkoureillasi ablative parkouriltasi parkoureiltasi allative parkourillesi parkoureillesi essive parkourinasi parkoureinasi translative parkouriksesi parkoureiksesi abessive parkourittasi parkoureittasi instructive — — comitative — parkoureinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative parkourimme parkourimme accusative nom. parkourimme parkourimme gen. parkourimme genitive parkourimme parkouriemme partitive parkouriamme parkourejamme inessive parkourissamme parkoureissamme elative parkouristamme parkoureistamme illative parkouriimme parkoureihimme adessive parkourillamme parkoureillamme ablative parkouriltamme parkoureiltamme allative parkourillemme parkoureillemme essive parkourinamme parkoureinamme translative parkouriksemme parkoureiksemme abessive parkourittamme parkoureittamme instructive — — comitative — parkoureinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative parkourinne parkourinne accusative nom. parkourinne parkourinne gen. parkourinne genitive parkourinne parkourienne partitive parkourianne parkourejanne inessive parkourissanne parkoureissanne elative parkouristanne parkoureistanne illative parkouriinne parkoureihinne adessive parkourillanne parkoureillanne ablative parkouriltanne parkoureiltanne allative parkourillenne parkoureillenne essive parkourinanne parkoureinanne translative parkouriksenne parkoureiksenne abessive parkourittanne parkoureittanne instructive — — comitative — parkoureinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative parkourinsa parkourinsa accusative nom. parkourinsa parkourinsa gen. parkourinsa genitive parkourinsa parkouriensa partitive parkouriaan parkouriansa parkourejaan parkourejansa inessive parkourissaan parkourissansa parkoureissaan parkoureissansa elative parkouristaan parkouristansa parkoureistaan parkoureistansa illative parkouriinsa parkoureihinsa adessive parkourillaan parkourillansa parkoureillaan parkoureillansa ablative parkouriltaan parkouriltansa parkoureiltaan parkoureiltansa allative parkourilleen parkourillensa parkoureilleen parkoureillensa essive parkourinaan parkourinansa parkoureinaan parkoureinansa translative parkourikseen parkouriksensa parkoureikseen parkoureiksensa abessive parkourittaan parkourittansa parkoureittaan parkoureittansa instructive — — comitative — parkoureineen parkoureinensa

Further reading

• “parkour”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

French

Etymology

Respelling of parcours (“route, course”), ultimately from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʁ.kuʁ/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

parkour m (uncountable)

1. parkour, free running

Descendants

• → English: parkour
• → German: Parkour
• → Japanese: パルクール
• → Korean: 파쿠르 (pakureu)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: parkour
• → Portuguese: parkour

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French parkour, a respelling of parcours (“course, route”), from Latin percursus. Doublet of percurso.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /paʁˈkuʁ/ [pahˈkuh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /paʁˈkuʁ/ [pahˈkuh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /paɾˈkuɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /paʁˈkuʁ/ [paχˈkuχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /paɻˈkuɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /paɾˈkuɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /paɾˈkuɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /paɾˈku.ɾi/

Noun

parkour m (uncountable)

1. parkour (athletic discipline)

Further reading

• “parkour”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “parkour”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French parkour.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paɾˈkuɾ/ [paɾˈkuɾ]
• Rhymes: -uɾ
• Syllabification: par‧kour

Noun

parkour m (uncountable)

1. parkour

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “parkour”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Noun

parkour c

1. parkour

Declension

Declension of parkour

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	parkour	parkours
	definite	parkouren	parkourens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

References

• “parkour”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “parkour”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)