parabola
/pəˈrab(ə)lə
/noun (plural parabolas or parabolae /pəˈrab(ə)liː/)
A symmetrical open plane curve formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane parallel to its side. The path of a projectile under the influence of gravity follows a curve of this shape.The solutions to the equations describing the motions produced by this law are called conic sections - ellipses, hyperbolae and parabolae - which you get by intersecting a plane and a cone....
- Newton and Kepler left behind the tools for constructing flight paths from simple conic sections - bits of parabolas, hyperbolas, ellipses, and the ubiquitous circle - and their use is now a highly developed art.
- Menaechmus is famed for his discovery of the conic sections and he was the first to show that ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas are obtained by cutting a cone in a plane not parallel to the base.
Origin
Late 16th century: modern Latin, from Greek parabolē 'placing side by side, application', from para- 'beside' + bolē 'a throw' (from the verb ballein).