Etymology From Middle French parallèle and its etymon Latin parallēlus, parallēlos. The verb is from the noun. See also para- and allo-.
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 equato1911, William Robert Martin, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Navigation:
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Upon interaction with ss- nucleic acid (NA) targets (deoxyribooligonucleotides (ODNs) or ribooligonucleotides), they form very stable anti-parallel and parallel duplexes [3 ], and the melting temperatures of the antiparallel duplexes are 10 to 15°C higher than those of the parallel duplexes.2015 October 16, “Polyanionic Carboxyethyl Peptide Nucleic Acids ( ce -PNAs): Synthesis and DNA Binding”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
2
Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to".
The two railway lines are parallel.
When honour runs parallel with the laws of God and our country, it cannot be too much cherished.1711 July 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, June 21, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 99; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
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All three parallel valleys of the Llynvi, Garw and Ogmore are much the same in physical character: the lower reaches are wooded and not unattractive, but as the railway climbs on ever-steepening grades, the hills on either hand grow barer and closer together, while in all respects the scene becomes more sombre, with the terraced, slate-roofed colliery towns and the road, railway and river all struggling for space in the narrowing defiles.1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
In those days she had admired his pluralistic openness of mind, and struggled, in her kitchen, towards a parallel eclecticism, learning to cook the dosas and uttapams of South India as well as the soft meatballs of Kashmir.1988, Salman Rushdie, chapter V, in The Satanic Verses, page 255:
Who made the spider parallels design, / Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line?1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
2
Direction conformable to that of another line.
lines that from their parallel decline1699, Samuel Garth, The Dispensary:
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.
It has also been suggested that environmental crimes might include the proposed crime of ‘ecocide’ or ‘geocide’, with proponents of this view attempting to draw parallels between destructive acts towards the environment and those against the qualifying groups for genocide. […] [M]any who advocate for the creation of either ecocide or geocide principally argue that the best place to try such crimes is through an apparatus created in a separate and environment-oriented treaty.2013, Alexandra R. Harrington, “The Crime of Aggression and Threats to the Future”, in Sébastien Jodoin, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, editors, Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 161–162:
None but thyself can be thy parallel.1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Third”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:
6
A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity.
Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope
7
Government, Military, Politics, War 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
Media, Printing, Publishing 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.
parallel
verb
Etymology From Middle French parallèle and its etymon Latin parallēlus, parallēlos. The verb is from the noun. See also para- and allo-.
To construct or place something parallel to something else.
The needle […] doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
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.2020 December 2, 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.
Although its spokesmen do not hesitate to parallel their oppression to that of blacks, the gay male community has chosen to ignore the voices of black gay men.1984 April 14, Reginald Shepherd, “White Men's Black Men”, in Gay Community News, page 11:
These scholars argue that gender and sexual identity are like nature and the environment; they parallel the queer/performance connection to the environmental/performance connection. I consider, instead, how all these categories actively interact and overlap.2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 119:
5
To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc.
[H]is life is paralel’d / Euen with the ſtroke and line of his great Iuſtice: […]c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 76, column 1:
6
To equal; to match; to correspond to.
He will ſteale ſir an Egge out of a Cloiſter: for rapes and rauiſhments he paralels Neſſus.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 248, column 2:
7
To produce or adduce as a parallel.
Macb[eth]. ’Twas a rough Night. / Lenox. My young remembrance cannot paralell / A fellow to it.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 137, column 2:
Who cannot parallel theſe ſtories out of his experience?1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Importunitie and Opportunity of the Place, Conference, Discourse, Singing, Dauncing, Musicke, Amorous Tales, Obiects, Kissing, Familiaritie, Tokens, Presents, Bribes, Promises, Protestations, Teares, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 2, member 2, subsection 4, page 587:
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Many have exerciſed their Wits in parallelling the Inconveniences of Regal and Popular Government, […]1680, Robert Filmer, “It Is Unnatural for the People to Govern, or Chose Governours”, in Patriarcha: or The Natural Power of Kings, London: […] Walter Davis […], →OCLC, page 65: