Added 10 October 2026
parity
/ˈpæɹɪti/ noun
Latin root: paritās Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about parity at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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(obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered.
the parity of the mother must be considered
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(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
- (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.
Origin
From Middle French parité, from Late Latin paritās, from Latin pār (“equal”). Equivalent to pari- + -ty.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)