parlay

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2025 is: parlay \PAHR-lay\ verb To parlay something is to use or develop it in order to get something else of greater value. Parlay is often used with the word into. // He hoped to parlay his basketball skills into a college scholarship. // She parlayed $5,000 and years of hard work into a multimillion-dollar company. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parlay) Examples: “Sometimes, celebrities parlay their name and following into big-time sales and hype—though, of course, not all of them (or their projects) are created equal.” — Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 26 Nov. 2024 Did you know? The word parlay originally belonged exclusively to gambling [parlance](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parlance), where to parlay is to take winnings from a previous bet, along with one’s original stake of money, and use them to make another bet or series of bets. The verb comes from the noun [paroli](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paroli), a borrowing from French—itself borrowed from Italian—that refers to a system of such betting. After decades of this specific use, not only did [parlay](https://bit.ly/4fOssPE) start to be used as a noun synonymous with paroli, but English speakers [upped the ante](https://bit.ly/4fxuOCG) by using the verb figuratively in situations where someone uses or develops something—such as a skill or hard work—for the purpose of getting something else of even greater value.