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Webster 1913 Edition
Parabola
Pa-rab′o-la
,Noun.
pl.
Parabolas
(#)
. [NL., fr. Gr. [GREEK]; – 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 = ax
where n is a positive whole number or a positive fraction. For the n
cubical parabola
n = 3; for the semicubical parabola
n = 3⁄2. See under Cubical
, and Semicubical
. The parabolas have infinite branches, but no rectilineal asymptotes. Webster 1828 Edition
Parabola
PARAB'OLA
,Noun.