Etymology

parabola

P3A1R1A1B3O1L1A1

Today it means: 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). Full definition →

New Latin parabola ← Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ) ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pərai
  4. Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)
  5. Ancient Greekπαρα- (para-)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  7. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  8. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  9. Ancient Greekπαραβάλλω (parabállō)
  10. Ancient Greekπαραβολή (parabolḗ)
  11. New Latinparabola
  12. English todayparabola

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.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekπαραβολή all →

paroleparableparleyparol

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.