parallax

English

Etymology

From Middle French parallaxe, from Ancient Greek παράλλαξις (parállaxis, “alteration”) from παραλλάσσω (parallássō, “to cause to alternate”) from ἀλλάσσω (allássō, “to alter”) from ἄλλος (állos, “other”). By surface analysis, par- +‎ all- +‎ -ax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹ.əˌlæks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

parallax (countable and uncountable, plural parallaxes)

1. An apparent shift in the position of two stationary objects relative to each other as viewed by an observer, due to a change in observer position.
   • 1685, J. Flamsteed, Philosophical Transactions, XV, p. 1217:

     […] Heliocentrick places, to which the Parallaxes being applied, give the Geocentrick.

   • 2008, Bernard Perron, Mark J. P. Wolf, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, page 157:

     Planes farther back on the z-axis scroll more slowly than those in front of them, producing a parallax effect. Early games with parallax scrolling tended to have their action taking place all in the forefront plane […]

   • 2020 June 14, Ashley Strickland, “NASA spacecraft sends back images of stars from 4.3 billion miles away”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 June 2020:

     The stars appeared to be in different locations through the parallax effect, meaning that the stars seemed to shift against the background since New Horizons was viewing it from a different view point. Scientists use the parallax effect to measure the distances to stars. […] “The New Horizons spacecraft is truly a mission of firsts, and this demonstration of stellar parallax is no different,” said Kenneth Hansen, New Horizons program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, in a statement.

2. (astronomy) The angle of seeing of the astronomical unit.

Derived terms

• celebration parallax
• cognitive parallax
• motion parallax
• parallactic
• parallax motion
• parallax second
• parsec

Related terms

• parallel

Translations

shift

• Catalan: paral·laxi (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 視差 / 视差 (zh) (shìchā)

• Czech: paralaxa
• Danish: parallakse (da)
• Esperanto: paralakso
• Estonian: parallaks
• Finnish: parallaksi
• French: parallaxe (fr) f
• Galician: paralaxe (gl) f
• German: Parallaxe (de) f
• Greek: παράλλαξη (el) (parállaxi)
• Haitian Creole: paralaks
• Hungarian: parallaxis (hu)
• Icelandic: hliðrun f
• Irish: saobhdhiall m
• Italian: parallasse (it) f
• Japanese: 視差 (ja) (しさ, shisa)
• Kazakh: параллакс (parallaks)
• Latvian: paralakse
• Luxembourgish: parallax
• Norwegian: parallakse
• Polish: paralaksa f
• Portuguese: paralaxe (pt) f
• Romanian: paralaxă (ro)
• Russian: паралла́кс (ru) m (paralláks)
• Sicilian: parallassi
• Slovene: paralaksa
• Spanish: paralaje (es) m or f
• Tamil: இடமாறுதோற்றம் (iṭamāṟutōṟṟam)
• Turkish: paralaks (tr)
• Vietnamese: thị sai (視差)
• Welsh: paralacs m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} sýndarhliðrun f, ^{(please verify)} sýndarfærsla f, ^{(please verify)} sjónstöðumunur m

Verb

parallax (third-person singular simple present parallaxes, present participle parallaxing, simple past and past participle parallaxed)

1. (transitive) To measure (a distance) based on parallax observations.
2. (animation) To produce an illusion of levels of distance by shifting layers at different rates.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French parallaxe, from Latin parallaxis, from Ancient Greek παράλλαξις (parállaxis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpaː.rɑˈlɑks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pa‧ral‧lax
• Rhymes: -ɑks

Noun

parallax m (plural parallaxen, no diminutive)

1. parallax

Derived terms

• sterparallax
• zonsparallax