How to pronounce parallel
American English pronunciation
PAIR-uh-lel
- IPA
- /ˈpɛɹəˌlɛl/
- Syllables
- PAIR · uh · lel (3 syllables, stress on the 1st)
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What parallel means
Running side by side the same distance apart, never meeting
In a sentence: The two train tracks are parallel all the way to the city.
Where it comes from: From a Greek word made of parts meaning "beside" and "each other."
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Another meaning
A way two different things are alike
In a sentence: Mia saw a parallel between her busy soccer team and an ant colony.
Where it comes from: It comes from the Greek parallelos, made of para, meaning beside, and allelon, meaning each other. Things that run beside each other match, so a parallel came to mean a likeness.
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