parallel vs similar

parallel

noun
  • Something identical or similar in essential respects. 

  • A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page. 

  • A line of latitude. 

  • One of a set of parallel lines. 

  • One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They are roughly parallel to the line of outer defenses of the fortress. 

  • Direction conformable to that of another line. 

  • An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths; see in parallel. 

  • A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity. 

verb
  • To produce or adduce as a parallel. 

  • To compare or liken something to something else. 

  • To equal; to match; to correspond to. 

  • To construct or place something parallel to something else. 

  • Of a process etc: To be analogous to something else. 

  • To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc. 

  • Of a path etc: To be parallel to something else. 

adj
  • Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to". 

  • Either not intersecting, or coinciding. 

  • Equally distant from one another at all points. 

  • Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time. 

adv
  • With a parallel relationship. 

similar

noun
  • That which is similar to, or resembles, something else, as in quality, form, etc. 

  • A material that produces an effect that resembles the symptoms of a particular disease. 

adj
  • Of geometrical figures including triangles, squares, ellipses, arcs and more complex figures, having the same shape but possibly different size, rotational orientation, and position; in particular, having corresponding angles equal and corresponding line segments proportional; such that one can be had from the other using a sequence of rotations, translations and scalings. 

  • Of two square matrices; being such that a conjugation sends one matrix to the other. 

  • Having traits or characteristics in common; alike, comparable. 

How often have the words parallel and similar occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )