Parasang

//ˈpɛɹəsæŋ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance used throughout the Western Mediterranean and the Middle East in antiquity, originally the distance travelled in one hour, and generally assumed to be equivalent to about six kilometres.

    "To see so much difference betwixt words and deeds, so many parasangs betwixt tongue and heart […]."

Example

More examples

"To see so much difference betwixt words and deeds, so many parasangs betwixt tongue and heart […]."

Etymology

From Latin parasanga, from Ancient Greek παρασάγγης (parasángēs), from unattested Old Persian *frasanhva- (indigenously attested only in Middle Iranian onwards); compare Middle Persian [script needed] (frasang /⁠plsng⁠/, “frasang (4 Roman miles)”) (whence Persian فرسنگ (farsang)). Doublet of farsang.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.