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Parallel vs Direct - What's the difference?

parallel | direct |

As adjectives the difference between parallel and direct

is that parallel is equally distant from one another at all points while direct is straight, constant, without interruption.

As adverbs the difference between parallel and direct

is that parallel is with a parallel relationship while direct is directly.

As verbs the difference between parallel and direct

is that parallel is to construct or place something parallel to something else while direct is to manage, control, steer.

As a noun parallel

is one of a set of parallel lines.

parallel

English

(wikipedia parallel)

Adjective

(-)
  • Equally distant from one another at all points.
    • The horizontal lines on my notebook paper are parallel .
  • * Hakluyt
    • revolutions parallel to the equinoctial
  • Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to".
    • The railway line runs parallel to the road.
    The two railway lines are parallel .
  • * Addison
    • When honour runs parallel with the laws of God and our country, it cannot be too much cherished.
  • (hyperbolic geometry) said of a pair of lines:'' that they either do not intersect or they coincide Jos Leys — ''The hyperbolic chamber (paragraph 8)
  • (computing) Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time
    • a parallel algorithm

    Antonyms

    * perpendicular, skew, serial

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • With a parallel relationship.
    • The road runs parallel with the canal.

    Related terms

    * (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One of a set of parallel lines.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Who made the spider parallels design, / Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line?
  • Direction conformable to that of another line.
  • * Garth
    • lines that from their parallel decline
  • A line of latitude.
    • The 31st parallel passes through the center of my town.
  • An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths; see in parallel.
  • Something identical or similar in essential respects.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • None but thyself can be thy parallel .
  • A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity.
    • Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope
  • (military) One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They are roughly parallel to the line of outer defenses of the fortress.
  • (printing) A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page.

    • Antonyms

    * perpendicular, skew (?)

    Verb

  • To construct or place something parallel to something else.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
    • The needle doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian.
  • Of a path etc: To be parallel to something else.
  • Of a process etc: To be analogous to something else.
  • To compare or liken something to something else.
  • To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc.
  • * Shakespeare
    • His life is parallelled / Even with the stroke and line of his great justice.
  • To equal; to match; to correspond to.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • To produce or adduce as a parallel.
  • * Shakespeare
    • My young remembrance cannot parallel / A fellow to it.
    (John Locke)

    Derived terms

    * embarrassingly parallel * forty-ninth parallel * parallel algorithm * parallel circuit * parallel computing * parallelism * parallelogram * parallel universe * unparalleled

    See also

    * sequential

    References

    ----

    direct

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Straight, constant, without interruption.
  • Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
    • the most direct route between two buildings
  • Straightforward; sincere.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Be even and direct with me.
  • Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
  • * John Locke
    • He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
  • * Hallam
    • a direct and avowed interference with elections
  • In the line of descent; not collateral.
    • a descendant in the direct line
  • (astronomy) In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body.

    • Antonyms

    * indirect

    Derived terms

    * direct action * direct current * direct flight * direct initiative * direct object * direct quote

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Directly.
  • * 2009 , Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall , Fourth Estate 2010, p. 346:
    • Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To manage, control, steer.
    • to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
  • To aim (something) at (something else).
    • They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
    He directed his question to the room in general.
  • To point out or show to (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way.
    • He directed me to the left-hand road.
  • * Lubbock
    • the next points to which I will direct your attention
  • To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
    • She directed them to leave immediately.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I'll first direct my men what they shall do.
  • (dated) To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name and residence of the person to whom anything is sent.
    • to direct a letter

    Related terms

    * direction * directly * director * adroit * dirge * dirigible * dress

    Anagrams

    * * ----