Associations to the word «Parabola»

Wiktionary

PARABOLA, noun. (geometry) The conic section formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane parallel to a tangent plane to the cone; the locus of points equidistant from a fixed point (the focus) and line (the directrix).
PARABOLA, noun. (rhetoric) The explicit drawing of a parallel between two essentially dissimilar things, especially with a moral or didactic purpose. A parable.

Dictionary definition

PARABOLA, noun. A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the curve.

Wise words

Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses.
William Butler Yeats