parallel motion

American  

noun

1. a mechanism arranged so as to impart rectilinear motion to a rod connected to a lever that moves through an arc.

---

Etymology

Origin of parallel motion

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

“It’s three minor 9th chords in parallel motion — it’s carrying you,” says original “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” keyboardist Philip Woo.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

At times, sound and image achieve an exhilarating synchronicity, as when stripes are hurtling across the screen and Reich’s instruments are racing in parallel motion.

From The New Yorker • May 20, 2019

Sylvester could see no reason "why the perfect parallel motion should not be employed with equal advantage in the construction of ordinary water-closets."

From Kinematics of Mechanisms from the Time of Watt by Ferguson, Eugene S.

It will be seen that the system is somewhat similar to the parallel motion when in action.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 601, July 9, 1887 by Various

He called attention to what he termed "compound compasses," a class of linkages that included Watt's parallel motion, the pantograph, and the polar planimeter.

From Kinematics of Mechanisms from the Time of Watt by Ferguson, Eugene S.