parity

1 of 2

noun (1)

par·​i·​ty ˈper-ə-tē 

ˈpa-rə-

plural parities

1

: the quality or state of being equal or equivalent

Women have fought for parity with men in the workplace.

2

a

: equivalence of a commodity price expressed in one currency to its price expressed in another

The two currencies are approaching parity for the first time in decades.

b

: equality of purchasing power established by law between different kinds of money at a given ratio

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

… parity is the price calculated to give the farmer a fair return in relation to the things he must buy.

—New York Times

4

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 (see binary entry 2 sense 5)

(2)

: parity bit

5

: the property of oddness or evenness of a quantum mechanical function

6

: the symmetry of behavior in an interaction of a physical entity (such as a subatomic particle) with that of its mirror image (see mirror image sense 1a)

parity

2 of 2

noun (2)

: the state or fact of having borne offspring

also : the number of children previously borne

Did you know?

Parity has special meanings in such fields as physics, math, medicine, genetics, and marketing. Back when the Soviet Union and the U.S. were opposing superpowers, there was often talk of parity in nuclear weapons between the two sides. We sometimes hear about parity between mental and physical health in insurance coverage, or parity in colleges' funding of men's and women's athletics. But parity may be most common in discussions of currencies. The exchange rate between two national currencies often changes every day, as each drifts higher or lower, and occasionally two similar currencies, such as the euro and the U.S. dollar, will achieve parity, but it rarely lasts long.

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• coequality
• coordinateness
• equality
• equivalence
• equivalency
• par
• sameness

Examples of parity in a Sentence

Noun (1)

rules requiring that there be parity in what schools spend on men's and women's sports

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As the nation marks a turbulent Black History Month, the economic state of Black America has much improved over the last few decades but is still nowhere near parity. —Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 17 Feb. 2025

However, in terms of purchasing power in parity terms, the figure was closer to $462 billion, which was more than total European spending in 2024. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025

Two long-running studies published Tuesday reveal one place in America where gender parity grew in 2024: movie screens. —Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2025

That—plus a desire for parity among the teams so that no one clever idea runs away with the series—means there are plenty of spec or controlled components on a current endurance racer. —Ars Technica, 31 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Latin paritas, from par equal

Noun (2)

-parous

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1877, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing parity

• parity bit
• rough parity

Rhymes for parity

• charity
• clarity
• rarity
• verity
• alterity
• asperity
• austerity
• celerity
• dexterity
• disparity
• hilarity
• molarity

Kids Definition

parity

noun

par·​i·​ty

ˈpar-ət-ē

plural parities

: the quality or state of being equal or equivalent : equality

Medical Definition

parity

noun

par·​i·​ty ˈpar-ət-ē 

plural parities

1

: the state or fact of having borne offspring

diagnosis of parity or nulliparity

2

: the number of times a female has given birth counting multiple births as one and usually including stillbirths

gravidity and parity were highly correlated

compare gravidity sense 2