in Geometry, an appellation given to lines, surfaces, and bodies, everywhere equidistant from each other. See GEOMETRY.

PARALLEL Sphere, that situation of the sphere where-in the equator coincides with the horizon, and the poles with the zenith and nadir.

PARALLEL Sailing. See NAVIGATION, book i. chap. iv.

PARALLELS of Latitude, in Astronomy, are lesser circles of the sphere parallel to the ecliptic, imagined to pass through every degree and minute of the colures.

PARALLELS of Altitude, or Altucauntors, are circles parallel to the horizon, imagined to pass through every degree and minute of the meridian between the horizon and zenith, having their poles in the zenith.

PARALLELS of Declination, in Astronomy, are the same with parallels of latitude in geography.