PARABOLA

parabola

(noun) a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the curve

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

parabola (plural parabolas or parabolae or parabolæ)

(geometry) 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).

(rhetoric) The explicit drawing of a parallel between two essentially dissimilar things, especially with a moral or didactic purpose. A parable.

Synonym: parable

Source: Wiktionary


Pa*rab"o*la, n.; pl. Parabolas. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Parable, and cf. Parabole.] (Geom.) (a) A kind of curve; one of the conic sections formed by the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane parallel to one of its sides. It is a curve, any point of which is equally distant from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed straight line, called the directrix. See Focus. (b) One of a group of curves defined by the equation y = axn where n is a positive whole number or a positive fraction. For the cubical parabola n = 3; for the semicubical parabola n = Cubical, and Semicubical. The parabolas have infinite branches, but no rectilineal asymptotes.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 November 2024

ONCHOCERCIASIS

(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America


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