parallel

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
parallel/ˈparəlel/

▶adjective

• 1 (of lines, planes, or surfaces) side by side and having the same distance continuously between them.

• 2 occurring or existing at the same time or in a similar way; corresponding.

  ■ Computing involving the simultaneous performance of operations.

• 3 of or denoting electrical components connected in parallel.

▶noun

• 1 a person or thing that is similar or analogous to another.

  ■ a similarity or comparison.

• 2 (also parallel of latitude) each of the imaginary parallel circles of constant latitude on the earth's surface.

• 3 Printing two parallel lines (‖) as a reference mark.

▶verb (parallels, paralleling, paralleled)

• 1 run or lie parallel to.

• 2 be similar or corresponding to.

– phrases
in parallel

• 1 taking place at the same time and having some connection.

• 2 (of electrical components or circuits) connected to common points at each end, so that the current is divided between them.

– derivatives
parallelism noun,
parallelistic adjective,
parallelization (or parallelisation) noun (Computing),
parallelize (or parallelise) verb (Computing).

– origin C16: from Fr. parallèle, via L. from Gk parallēlos, from para- ‘alongside’ + allēlos ‘one another’.