parallel

Etymology

From Middle French parallèle, borrowed from Latin parallelus.

adj

1. Equally distant from one another at all points.
   The horizontal lines on my notebook paper are parallel.
   the instrument held with its plane roughly parallel to the equinoctial or celestial equato 1911, William Robert Martin, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Navigation
2. Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to".
   The two railway lines are parallel.
3. (hyperbolic geometry, said of a pair of lines) Either not intersecting, or coinciding.
4. (computing) Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time.
   Coordinate term: concurrent
   a parallel algorithm
5. (figurative) Analogous, similar, comparable.
   the parallel lives of two citizens
6. (science fiction, of realities, dimensions, timelines, etc.) Coexisting but normally not interacting with the regular reality.
   parallel universe

adv

1. With a parallel relationship.
   The road runs parallel to the canal.

noun

1. One of a set of parallel lines.
2. Direction conformable to that of another line.
   lines that from their parallel decline 1699, Samuel Garth, The Dispensary
3. A line of latitude.
   The 31st parallel passes through the center of my town.
4. An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths; see in parallel.
5. Something identical or similar in essential respects.
6. A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity.
   Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope
7. (military) One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They are roughly parallel to the line of outer defenses of the fortress.
8. (printing) A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page.

verb

1. To construct or place something parallel to something else.
2. Of a path etc: To be parallel to something else.
   Archaic covered bridges lingered fearsomely out of the past in pockets of the hills, and the half-abandoned railway track paralleling the river seemed to exhale a nebulously visible air of desolation. 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 6, in The Whisperer in Darkness
   Racing on, we parallel the M5 doing 95mph, according to the app on my smartphone. December 2 2020, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 66
3. Of a process etc: To be analogous to something else.
4. To compare or liken something to something else.
5. To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc.
6. To equal; to match; to correspond to.
7. To produce or adduce as a parallel.
   Who cannot parallel these stories out of his experience? 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.2.2.iv