par·i-mu·tu·el also
par·i·mu·tu·el (p
ăr
′ĭ-my
ch
-
əl)
n.1. A system of betting on races whereby the winners divide the total amount bet, after deducting management expenses, in proportion to the sums they have wagered individually.
2. A machine that records such bets and computes the payoffs.
[French : pari, wager (from parier, to wager, from Latin pariāre, to settle a debt, from pār, par-, equal; see perə-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots) + mutuel, mutual (from Old French; see MUTUAL).]