parasang

American  

[par-uh-sang] / ˈpær əˌsæŋ /

noun

1. an ancient Persian unit of distance, equal to about 3.5 miles (5.6 km).

---

parasang British  

/ ˈpærəˌsæŋ /

noun

1. a Persian unit of distance equal to about 5.5 km or 3.4 miles

---

Etymology

Origin of parasang

C16: via Latin and Greek from a Persian word related to modern Persian farsang

Example Sentences

Such words as "blastoderm", "sindoc," "peris," "parasang," "sarcenet," "teazel," "nullah," "cantatrice," "barracan," "sistrum," writhed and hissed in her verses.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ibn-Haukal, an Arabian traveller of the 10th century, describes Balkh as built of clay, with ramparts and six gates, and extending half a parasang.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" by Various

When we found ourselves a parasang or two parasangs away from the city, we waxed athirst; and presently we came to a garden.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 12 [Supplement] by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Mr. Ainsworth, following Mr. Hamilton and Colonel Leake, makes the parasang equal to 3 English miles, 180 yards, or 3 geographical miles of 1822 yards each.

From The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis by Watson, John Selby

So they obeyed his bidding and laid its foundations and marked with large stones the lines thereof which measured a parasang of length by a parasang of breadth.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 15 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir