parallelism

American  

[par-uh-le-liz-uhm, -luh-liz-] / ˈpær ə lɛˌlɪz əm, -ləˌlɪz- /

noun

1. the position or relation of parallels.

2. agreement in direction, tendency, or character; the state or condition of being parallel.

3. a parallel or comparison.

4. Metaphysics.  the doctrine that mental and bodily processes are concomitant, each varying with variation of the other, but that there is no causal relation of interaction between the two.

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parallelism British  

/ ˈpærəlɛˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. the state of being parallel

2. grammar the repetition of a syntactic construction in successive sentences for rhetorical effect

3. philosophy the dualistic doctrine that mental and physical processes are regularly correlated but are not causally connected, so that, for example, pain always accompanies, but is not caused by, a pin-prick Compare interactionism occasionalism

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Other Word Forms

• nonparallelism noun
• parallelist noun

Etymology

Origin of parallelism

First recorded in 1600–10; parallel + -ism

Example Sentences

With ultimate parallelism at its core, this technology could dramatically expand the capabilities of AI systems, enabling them to handle complex tasks with lightning speed and exceptional accuracy, Bae said.

From Science Daily

This "higher-dimensional" processing is enabled by exploiting multiple different radio frequencies to encode the data, propelling parallelism to a level far beyond that previously achieved.

From Science Daily

“There is no hard and fast rule on number of reiterations needed to produce retention. Concise, vividly phrased messages that employ parallelism and alliteration are more readily remembered.”

From Seattle Times

There’s a satisfying parallelism to the dynamics between the two pairs — the chemistry, the witty repartee, the heartbreak one character offers, intentionally or unintentionally, to another.

From New York Times

The past-present parallelism is provocative, but it also seems faintly superficial — a way of eliding distinctions and streamlining history.

From New York Times