Parsec

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  parsec \par"sec\ (p[aum]r"s[e^]k), n. [From parallax second. See
     {parallax second} and {annual parallax}, under {parallax}.]
     (Astron.)
     A unit of length used in describing astronomical distances,
     equal to 3.26 light years, or 3.086 x 1013 km. Abbreviated
     pc. The derived units of kiloparsec (kpc, 1000 parsecs) and


     megaparsec (mpc, one million parsecs) are often found in
     discussion of astronomical distances.
     [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  parsec
       n : a unit of astronomical length based on the distance from
           Earth at which stellar parallax is 1 second of arc;
           equivalent to 3.262 light years [syn: {secpar}]

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  PARSEC
       
          Extensible language with PL/I-like syntax, derived from
          PROTEUS.  "PARSEC User's Manual", Bolt Beranek & Newman (Dec
          1972).