parallelism

P3A1R1A1L1L1E1L1I1S1M3
UK/ˈpaɹəlɛlɪz(ə)m/

noun

The state or condition of being parallel; agreement in direction, tendency, or character.

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounparallelism (countable and uncountable, plural parallelisms)

plural parallelisms

  1. countableuncountableThe state or condition of being parallel; agreement in direction, tendency, or character.
  2. countableuncountableThe state of being in agreement or similarity; resemblance, correspondence, analogy.

    Plutarch (c. AD 46-120), in his Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, traced a parallelism between the most eminent men of the two countries.

    1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.29
  3. countableuncountableA parallel position; the relation of parallels.
  4. countablerhetoricuncountablegrammarThe juxtaposition of two or more identical or equivalent syntactic constructions, especially those expressing the same sentiment with slight modifications, introduced for rhetorical effect.
  5. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe doctrine that matter and mind do not causally interact but that physiological events in the brain or body nonetheless occur simultaneously with matching events in the mind.
  6. countableuncountablelawIn antitrust law, the practice of competitors of raising prices by roughly the same amount at roughly the same time, without engaging in a formal agreement to do so.
  7. countableuncountablebiologySimilarity of features between two species resulting from their having taken similar evolutionary paths following their initial divergence from a common ancestor.
  8. countableuncountablecomputingThe use of parallel methods in hardware or software, so that several tasks can be performed at the same time.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounsimilarity by virtue of corresponding

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Late Latinparallelismus
  2. Englishparallelism

From parallel + -ism and from Late Latin parallelismus.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian успоредност, прилика
  • успоредност (usporednost)state or condition of being parallel
  • прилика (prilika)agreement, similarity, resemblance
  • съответствие (săotvetstvie)agreement, similarity, resemblance
Catalan paral·lelisme, paral·lelisme
  • paral·lelismestate or condition of being parallel
  • paral·lelismeagreement, similarity, resemblance
  • paral·lelismegrammar
  • paral·lelismephilosophy
  • paral·lelismethe use of parallel methods in computing
Czech rovnoběžnost
  • rovnoběžnostparallel position
Finnish samansuuntaisuus, samanlaisuus
  • samansuuntaisuusstate or condition of being parallel
  • samanlaisuusagreement, similarity, resemblance
  • samansuuntaisuusparallel position
  • parallelismigrammar
  • kertogrammar
  • parallelismiphilosophy
  • rinnakkaisuusthe use of parallel methods in computing
French parallélisme
  • parallélismestate or condition of being parallel
Greek παραλληλότητα, παραλληλία
  • παραλληλότητα (parallilótita)state or condition of being parallel
  • παραλληλία (parallilía)state or condition of being parallel
  • παραλληλισμός (parallilismós)state or condition of being parallel
  • παραλληλισμός (parallilismós)agreement, similarity, resemblance
  • αντιστοιχία (antistoichía)agreement, similarity, resemblance
  • παραλληλισμός (parallilismós)grammar
Hungarian párhuzamosság, párhuzam
  • párhuzamosságstate or condition of being parallel
  • párhuzamagreement, similarity, resemblance
  • hasonlóságagreement, similarity, resemblance
Irish comhthreomhaireacht
  • comhthreomhaireachtstate or condition of being parallel
Portuguese paralelismo, paralelismo
  • paralelismostate or condition of being parallel
  • paralelismoagreement, similarity, resemblance
  • paralelismogrammar
  • paralelismothe use of parallel methods in computing
Romanian paralelism, paralelitate
  • paralelismstate or condition of being parallel
  • paralelitatestate or condition of being parallel
  • paralelismagreement, similarity, resemblance
  • paralelitateparallel position
  • paralelismphilosophy
Spanish paralelismo
  • paralelismostate or condition of being parallel
Tagalog kaagapayan, kaagapayan
  • kaagapayanstate or condition of being parallel
  • kaagapayanagreement, similarity, resemblance
Cite this entry
APA

parallelism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parallelism

MLA

“parallelism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parallelism. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parallelism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parallelism.

Source: parallelism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.