parasang

P3A1R1A1S1A1N1G2
UK/ˈpaɹəsaŋ/US/ˈpɛɹəsæŋ/

noun

A historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance used throughout the Western Mediterranean and the Middle East in antiquity, originally the distance travelled in one hour, and generally assumed to be equivalent to about six kilometres.

OriginLatin parasanga ← Ancient Greek παρασάγγης ← Old Persian *frasanhvah →
First used 16th c.Scrabble 11
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Meanings

nounparasang (plural parasangs or parasang)

plural parasangs

  1. A historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance used throughout the Western Mediterranean and the Middle East in antiquity, originally the distance travelled in one hour, and generally assumed to be equivalent to about six kilometres.First known use 16th c.

    We were told that we still had to drive six or sixty parasang.

    2013, Lucy Renner Jones, translating Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Death in Persia, Seagull Books 2013, p. 44
    1 more example

    To see so much difference betwixt words and deeds, so many parasangs betwixt tongue and heart[…].

    1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York: New York Review Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 66

Origin

  1. Old Persian*frasanhvah
  2. Ancient Greekπαρασάγγης
  3. Latinparasanga
  4. Englishparasang

From Latin parasanga, from Ancient Greek παρασάγγης (parasángēs), from unattested Old Persian *frasanhvah (indigenously attested only in Middle Iranian onwards); compare Middle Persian [script needed] (frasang /⁠plsng⁠/, “frasang (4 Roman miles)”) (whence Persian فرسنگ (farsang)). Doublet of farsang and farsakh.

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Persian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek παρασάγγης
  • παρασάγγης (parasángēs)historical Iranian unit of distance
French parasange
  • parasangehistorical Iranian unit of distance
Italian parasanga
  • parasangahistorical Iranian unit of distance
Latin parasanga
  • parasangahistorical Iranian unit of distance
Russian параса́нг, фарса́х
  • параса́нг (parasáng)historical Iranian unit of distance
  • фарса́х (farsáx)historical Iranian unit of distance
Turkish fersah
  • fersahhistorical Iranian unit of distance
Cite this entry
APA

parasang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parasang

MLA

“parasang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parasang. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parasang,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parasang.

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