If
parse brings up images of elementary school and learning the
parts of speech, you've done your homework regarding this word.
Parse comes from the first element of the Latin term for "part of speech,"
pars orationis. It's an old word that has been used since at least the mid-1500s, but it was not until the late 18th century that
parse graduated to its extended, non-grammar-related sense of "to examine in a minute way; to analyze critically." Remember this extended sense, and you're really at the head of the class.