alloparentn.
/ˈaləˌpɛːrənt/, /ˈaləˌpɛːrn̩t/, U.S. /ˈæləˌpɛrənt/ Zoology and Sociology.
An adult animal or person involved in parent-like care of an individual which is not his or her offspring.
ΚΠ
1975 E. O. Wilson Sociobiology xvi. 350/1 Within individual primate species, important differences exist between female and male alloparents.
1994 New Scientist 21 May 41/2 Guillemots will act as alloparents (that is, adult birds brooding other birds' chicks), an unusual trait for a seabird.
1999 Independent on Sunday 31 Oct. i. 19/8 The availability of ‘alloparents’—caring people who can be relied on to look after other people's children—will make a working mother's life easier.
2009 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 13 Nov. 38 Schools are run by alloparents helping huge numbers of young—a tough job.
Derivatives
ˌallopaˈrental adj.
ΚΠ
1975 E. O. Wilson Sociobiology xvi. 350/1 Thus alloparental care..is a heterogeneous category that can be understood only with reference to the natural history of individual species.
2006 New Scientist 8 Apr. 50/2 For children at risk of neglect, it is amazing how much difference alloparental interventions, say, from a grandparent can make.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1975