parity
part of speech
noun (parity, rarely parities)
meaning for a pupil
1) Being equal, especially in pay, rank, strength or chances: men and women should have parity of pay. tree →
2) (maths) Whether a whole number is even or odd: 6 and 8 have the same parity; 6 and 7 have different parity. tree →
3) (formal, money) When two currencies are worth the same, as in «the pound and the euro reached parity». tree →
4) (computers) A simple check bit that helps find mistakes in data. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school maths parity means even or odd, and it is a powerful trick: an even number plus an even number is always even; odd plus odd is even; odd plus even is odd. Puzzle and logic problems often use parity to prove something cannot happen. In everyday and news language it means fairness or balance, as in «pay parity» or «parity between teams». It belongs mostly to the formal or exam voice. Phrases: «achieve parity», «on parity with», «parity of esteem».
examples
- Seven and nine have the same parity, because both are odd. tree →
- Check the parity: is 128 even or odd? tree →
- Odd plus odd gives an even number, so the parity changes. tree →
- The players asked for parity with the men's team in pay. tree →
- After the goal, the two teams were back at parity. tree →
- The dollar and the other money were almost at parity. tree →
- Use parity to decide whether 15 coins can be split into two equal piles. tree →
- Our computer uses a parity bit to spot errors. tree →
note
Usually uncountable. In maths, «same parity» = both even or both odd. Rule: the sum of numbers is odd exactly when there is an odd count of odd numbers in it. A formal, adult word; children usually say «equal» or «even or odd». Not related to «party» or «parody».
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «parity» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.