nonparallel
|non-par-a-lel|
🇺🇸
/nɑnˈpærəlɛl/
🇬🇧
/nɒnˈpærəlɛl/
not parallel / not corresponding
Etymology
'nonparallel' is formed in English by the negative prefix 'non-' + 'parallel', where 'non-' meant 'not' (from Latin 'non' via Old French/English usage) and 'parallel' comes from Greek 'parallēlos' meaning 'beside one another'.
'parallel' came into English via Late Latin and Old French from Greek 'parallēlos' (para- 'beside' + allēlos 'each other'); the modern compound 'nonparallel' is a straightforward negation formed in English by adding the productive prefix 'non-' to 'parallel'.
Initially 'parallel' carried the idea of 'beside one another' (literal spatial relation); over time it came to mean 'having the same direction or corresponding relation', and 'nonparallel' now denotes the negation of those senses (physically not parallel or not corresponding).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not parallel; not running in the same direction or not having the same distance apart along their length (physically not parallel).
The two railway tracks are nonparallel and will converge at the junction.
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Adjective 2
not corresponding or analogous; lacking a comparable or matching relationship (figurative: not parallel in structure, scope, or effect).
The conclusions of the two studies are nonparallel, so you cannot combine their results directly.
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Last updated: 2025/09/27 19:55