Meanings
plural parabolas · plural parabolae · plural parabolæ
- geometryThe 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).
And it saves his life. As he's buzzing down a curving, narrow canal, a narrow green parabola appears hanging across the water in front of him, suddenly rising out of the water and snapping into a perfectly straight line at neck level.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 387
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of parable.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
- Proto-Hellenic*pərai
- Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)
- Ancient Greekπαρα- (para-)
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
- Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
- Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
- Ancient Greekπαραβάλλω (parabállō)
- Ancient Greekπαραβολή (parabolḗ)
- New Latinparabola
- Englishparabola
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.
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παραβολή
- παραβολή (parabolḗ)a conic section
Arabic قَطْعٌ مُكَافِئ, شَلْجَمِيّ
- قَطْعٌ مُكَافِئ (qaṭʕun mukāfiʔ)a conic section
- شَلْجَمِيّ (šaljamiyy)a conic section
- عَدَسِي (ʕadasī)a conic section
Bengali পরাবৃত্ত
- পরাবৃত্ত (porabritto)a conic section
Bulgarian пара́бола
- пара́бола (parábola)a conic section
Catalan paràbola
- paràbolaa conic section
Chinese Mandarin 拋物線 /抛物线
- 拋物線 /抛物线 (pāowùxiàn)a conic section
Czech parabola, stejnice
- parabolaa conic section
- stejnicea conic section
- povrchnicea conic section
Danish parabel
- parabela conic section
Dutch parabool
- paraboola conic section
Esperanto parabolo
- paraboloa conic section
Finnish paraabeli
- paraabelia conic section
French parabole
- parabolea conic section
German Parabel
- Parabela conic section
Greek παραβολή
- παραβολή (paravolí)a conic section
Hawaiian palapola
- palapolaa conic section
Hebrew פָּרָבּוֹלָה
- פָּרָבּוֹלָה (parábola)a conic section
Hindi परवलय
- परवलय (paravlay)a conic section
Hungarian parabola
- parabolaa conic section
Icelandic fleygbogi
- fleygbogia conic section
Irish parabóil
- parabóila conic section
Italian parabola
- parabolaa conic section
Japanese 放物線
- 放物線 (hōbutsusen)a conic section
Korean 포물선
- 포물선 (pomulseon)a conic section
Latvian parabola
- parabolaa conic section
Lithuanian parabolė
- parabolėa conic section
Norwegian Bokmål parabel
- parabela conic section
Persian سهمی
- سهمی (sahmi)a conic section
Polish parabola
- parabolaa conic section
Portuguese parábola
- parábolaa conic section
Russian пара́бола
- пара́бола (parábola)a conic section
Slovak parabola
- parabolaa conic section
Spanish parábola
- parábolaa conic section
Swedish parabel
- parabela conic section
Thai พาราโบลา
- พาราโบลา (paa-raa-boo-lâa)a conic section
Turkish parabol
- parabola conic section
Ukrainian пара́бола
- пара́бола (parábola)a conic section
Vietnamese parabôn
- parabôna conic section
Cite this entry
parabola. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parabola
“parabola.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parabola. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parabola,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parabola.
Source: parabola on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.