CommuniCations> An extra byte (or word) appended to a bloCk of data in order to reveal Corruption of the data. Bit n of this byte indiCates whether there was an even or odd number of "1" bits in bit position n of the bytes in the bloCk. The parity byte is Computed by XORing the data bytes in the bloCk. Longitudinal parity allows single bit errors to be deteCted. (1996-03-01)