▪ I. parakite
(ˈpærəkaɪt)
[In sense a, f. parachute) + kite; in b, f. Gr. παρά, para-1 beyond + kite.]
1. a. A kind of large kite constructed so as to be inflated by the wind like a parachute, proposed by Simmons in 1875 for military use. b. A kind of tailless kite devised by Woglom in 1896 for various scientific purposes.
| 1875 10th Rep. Aeronaut. Soc. 75 An attempt was made by Mr. Simmons, the aëronaut, to supplement the employment of a balloon in warfare by..a kite, which, from the peculiar nature of its construction, he designated the parakite. It was, in fact, a combination of the parachute and kite. 1895 Baden Powell in Jrnl. United Service Inst. 888 Simmons, the aëronaut, tried in 1876 an apparatus under the name of the ‘parakite’ for raising a military observer. 1896 G. T. Woglom (title) Parakites; A Treatise on the Making and Flying of Tailless Kites for Scientific Purposes. Ibid. 25 Inasmuch as ‘kite’ has been the name for a toy..it has seemed proper to distinguish therefrom these ‘parakites’, using the Greek prefix in its purport of beyond the kite—an advanced kite. 1897 Daily News 4 Nov. 6/4 The processes of ‘Parakite Photography’ are minutely described. |
2. In modern use applied to a parachute kite which is towed along against the wind by a motorboat, car, or other fast vehicle. So ˈparakiting, the sport of soaring when harnessed to a parakite.
| 1962 Aeroplane CII. 233/2 Para kite.—First trials of the Lemoigne parachute kite have taken place in England... Mr. Walter Neumark remained at about 150 ft. for over 5 minutes while moored to the towing car. 1964 T. W. Willans Parachuting & Skydiving v. 50 The Lemoigne parakite of the 1960s—a sort of ascending parachute, a few of which had found their way from France into England. 1970 Time 30 Mar. 42/1 In parakiting, the water skier becomes airborne when the trailing parachute pops open. 1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 50 (caption) Instead of hang gliding's crunch-down, parakiting's finale is a splash-down: on this occasion, in an icy sea. Ibid., Stan Lyons was the guinea-pig—the man setting out to make Morecambe's first parakite flight between the Stone Jetty and West End Pier. |
▪ II. parakite, -kitie, -kito
see parakeet.