parity

(noun) (obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered. Synonyms: para. Examples: "The parity of the mother must be considered." "A bipara is a woman who has given birth to two children."

(noun) (mathematics) a relation between a pair of integers: if both integers are odd or both are even they have the same parity; if one is odd and the other is even they have different parity. Example: "Parity is often used to check the integrity of transmitted data."

(noun) (computer science) a bit that is used in an error detection procedure in which a 0 or 1 is added to each group of bits so that it will have either an odd number of 1's or an even number of 1's; e.g., if the parity is odd then any group of bits that arrives with an even number of 1's must contain an error. Synonyms: parity bit, check bit.

(noun) (physics) parity is conserved in a universe in which the laws of physics are the same in a right-handed system of coordinates as in a left-handed system. Synonyms: conservation of parity, space-reflection symmetry, mirror symmetry.

(noun) functional equality.