parity

noun — 9 senses

parity

noun

AU, UK /ˈpæɹɪti/ · UK /ˈpaɹɪtɪj/

Etymology From Middle French parité, from Late Latin paritās, from Latin pār (“equal”). Equivalent to pari- + -ty.

7 senses
  1. 1Equality; comparability of strength or intensity.
  2. 2A set with the property of having all of its elements…
  3. 3The classification of an element of a set with parity…
  4. 4The count of one bits in a value, reduced to even or odd…
  5. 5Symmetry of interactions under spatial inversion.
  6. 6In reversi, the last move within a given sector of the board.
  7. 7Resemblance; analogy.
1

Equality; comparability of strength or intensity.

  • Altogether, Microsoft claims a 99% feature parity between 32-bit and 64-bit editions.2000 April 26, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Delta Guide, Pearson Education, unpaged
  • For all their frailty at the back, Arsenal possessed genuine menace in attack and they carved through Chelsea with ease to restore parity nine minutes before half-time. Aaron Ramsey's pass was perfection and Gervinho took the unselfish option to set up Van Persie for a tap-in.2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3 - 5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport:
1 more example
  • Day after day, for 10 days, Stones and his client rose before dawn, dressed themselves in clothes of a drab dry-leaf green and set out on the trail. By the time the sun was high in the sky and the gunmen were soaked in sweat, there arose – in their minds, at least – a sense of parity, of worthy opposition, equal opportunity in this game of life and death, even if only one party has chosen to play.2026 April 21, Cal Flyn, “On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife”, in The Guardian:

› Senses related to classification into two sets.

2

Mathematics, Sciences A set with the property of having all of its elements belonging to one of two disjoint subsets, especially a set of integers split in subsets of even and odd elements.

  • Parity is always preserved in such operations.
3

Mathematics, Sciences The classification of an element of a set with parity into one of the two sets.

  • The particles' parities can switch at random.
4

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences The count of one bits in a value, reduced to even or odd or zero or one.

5

Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Symmetry of interactions under spatial inversion.

6

Games In reversi, the last move within a given sector of the board.

7

Resemblance; analogy.

Antonyms
chirality
Derived terms
antiparity, brand parity, imparity, nonparity, omniparity, parity bit, parity game, potty parity, purchasing power parity, unparity

parity

noun

Etymology From Latin paritas, from pariō (“give birth”).

1

Medicine, Sciences The number of delivered pregnancies reaching viable gestational age, usually between 20-28 weeks.

2

Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle The number of times a sow has farrowed.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.