I. ˈparəd.ē, -ətē, -i also ˈper- noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin paritas, from par equal + -itas -ity — more at pair
1. : the quality or state of being equal : close equivalence or resemblance : equality of rank, nature, or value : likeness
parity must exist between authority and responsibility — Harold Koontz & Cyril O'Donnell
2.
a. : equivalence of a commodity price expressed in one currency to its price expressed in another
b. : equality of purchasing power established by law between different kinds of money at a given ratio (as between gold and silver coins of a fixed weight and fineness)
3. : an equivalence between farmers' current purchasing power and their purchasing power at a selected base period maintained by government support of agricultural commodity prices at a level fixed by law : a ratio between agricultural and nonagricultural prices at a specified past time
parity is the price calculated to give the farmer a fair return in relation to the things he must buy — New York Times
II. noun
( -es )
Etymology: par ous + -ity
: parous condition : number of children previously borne
the age and parity of the mother may be a factor — Journal American Medical Association
III. noun
1.
a. : the property of an integer with respect to being odd or even
3 and 7 have the same parity
b.
(1) : the state of being odd or even used as the basis of a method of detecting errors in binary-coded data
(2) : parity bit herein
2. : the property of oddness or evenness of a wave function in quantum mechanics
3. : the symmetry of behavior in an interaction of a physical entity (as a subatomic particle) with that of its mirror image