parabola
/pəˈɹæb.ə.lə/ noun
Forms parabolas parabolae parabolæ
- noun (geometry) The conic section formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane parallel to a tangent plane to the cone; the locus of points equidistant from a fixed point (the focus) and line (the directrix).
- noun (rhetoric) Synonym of parable.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin parabola, from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ), from παραβάλλω (parabállō, “to set side by side”), from παρά (pará, “beside”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”). Doublet of parable, parole, and palaver.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [NL., fr. Gr. Parable, and cf. Parabole.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “parabola”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details