parabola Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Pa*rab"o*la noun
Etymology
NL., fr. Gr. -- so called because its axis is parallel to the side of the cone. See Parable, and cf. Parabole.
Wordforms
plural Parabolas
Definitions
  1. (Geom.) (a) A kind of curve; one of the conic sections formed by the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane parallel to one of its sides. It is a curve, any point of which is equally distant from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed straight line, called the directrix. See Focus. (b) One of a group of curves defined by the equation y = axn where n is a positive whole number or a positive fraction. For the cubical parabola n = 3; for the semicubical parabola n = &frac32;. See under Cubical, and Semicubical. The parabolas have infinite branches, but no rectilineal asymptotes.

Webster 1913