jQuery - parent( [selector] ) Method

Description

The parent( [selector] ) method gets the direct parent of an element. If called on a set of elements, parent returns a set of their unique direct parent elements.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to use this method −

selector.parent( [selector] )

Parameters

Here is the description of all the parameters used by this method −

selector − This is optional selector to filter the parent with.

Example

Following is a simple example a simple showing the usage of this method.

Live Demo

<html>
   <head>
      <title>The jQuery Example</title>
      <script type = "text/javascript" 
         src = "https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.3/jquery.min.js">
      </script>
		
      <script type = "text/javascript" language = "javascript">
         $(document).ready(function(){
            $("p").parent().addClass('hilight');
         });
      </script>
		
      <style>
         .hilight { background:yellow; }
      </style>
   </head>
	
   <body>
      <scan>Top Element</scan>
      <div>
         <div>sibling<div>child</div></div>
         <p>sibling</p>
         <scan>sibling</scan>
      </div>
   </body>
</html>

This will produce following result −

Example

Following is a simple example a simple showing the usage of this method.

Live Demo

<html>
   <head>
      <title>The jQuery Example</title>
      <script type = "text/javascript" 
         src = "https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.3/jquery.min.js">
      </script>
		
      <script type = "text/javascript" language = "javascript">
         $(document).ready(function(){
            $("p").parent().addClass('hilight');
         });
      </script>
		
      <style>
         .hilight { background:yellow; }
      </style>
   </head>
	
   <body>
      <scan>Top Element</scan>
      <div class = "hilight">
         <div>sibling<div>child</div></div>
         <p>sibling</p>
         <scan>sibling</scan>
      <div>
   </body>
</html>

This will produce following result −

jquery-traversing.htm