Which by the ancient sages was thus parabled.
Milton.
Pa*rab"o*la (?), n.; pl. Parabolas (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;; -- so called
because its axis is parallel to the side of the cone. See Parable, and
cf. Parabole.] (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 = . See under Cubical, and Semicubical. The
parabolas have infinite branches, but no rectilineal asymptotes.
||Pa*rab"o*le (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;. See Parable.] (Rhet.)
||Similitude; comparison.
{ Par`a*bol"ic (?), Par`a*bol"ic*al (?), } a. [Gr. paraboliko`s
figurative: cf. F. parabolique. See Parable.]
1. Of the nature of a parable; expressed by a parable or figure;
allegorical; as, parabolical instruction.
2. [From Parabola.] (Geom.) (a) Having the form or nature of a
parabola; pertaining to, or resembling, a parabola; as, a parabolic
curve. (b) Generated by the revolution of a parabola, or by a line that
moves on a parabola as a directing curve; as, a parabolic conoid.
Parabolic conoid, a paraboloid; a conoid whose directing curve is a
parabola. See Conoid. -- Parabolic mirror (Opt.), a mirror having a
paraboloidal surface which gives for parallel rays (as those from very
distant objects) images free from aberration. It is used in reflecting
telescopes. -- Parabolic spindle, the solid generated by revolving the
portion of a parabola cut off by a line drawn at right angles to the
axis of the curve, about that line as an axis. -- Parabolic spiral, a
spiral curve conceived to be formed by the periphery of a semiparabola
when its axis is wrapped about a circle; also, any other spiral curve
having an analogy to the parabola.
<! p. 1039 !>
Par`a*bol"ic*al*ly (pr`*bl"*kal*l), adv. 1. By way of parable; in a
parabolic manner.