parity

1. 1.

   (obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered

   “the parity of the mother must be considered”

   “a bipara is a woman who has given birth to two children”

   Synonymspara

   Broaderpregnancy

   obstetrics

2. 2.

   (mathematics) a relation between a pair of integers: if both integers are odd or both are even they have the same parity; if one is odd and the other is even they have different parity

   “parity is often used to check the integrity of transmitted data”

   Broadermathematical relation

   Narrowerevennessoddness

   mathematics

3. 3.

   (computer science) a bit that is used in an error detection procedure in which a 0 or 1 is added to each group of bits so that it will have either an odd number of 1's or an even number of 1's; e.g., if the parity is odd then any group of bits that arrives with an even number of 1's must contain an error

   Synonymsparity bitcheck bit

   Broaderbit

   computer science

4. 4.

   (physics) parity is conserved in a universe in which the laws of physics are the same in a right-handed system of coordinates as in a left-handed system

   Synonymsconservation of parityspace-reflection symmetrymirror symmetry

   Broaderconservation

   physics

5. 5.

   functional equality

   Broaderequivalence

Other forms of parity

plural

parities·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about parity

What does parity mean?

parity means "(obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in parity?

parity has 3 syllables: par-i-ty. The stress falls on "par". In IPA it is /ˈpɛɹəti/.

What is another word for parity?

Close synonyms include para, parity bit, check bit, conservation of parity, space-reflection symmetry. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is parity a common word?

parity is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.