Definition of "parsec" [par•sec]

• A unit of astronomical length based on the distance from Earth at which stellar parallax is one second of arc and equal to 3.258 light-years, 3.086 × 1013 kilometers, or 1.918 × 1013 miles. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Why, for example, does Han Solo boast about his ship's speed by saying that it can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs when a parsec is in fact a measurement of distance rather than time?"
• "A parsec is a unit of length in astronomy, approximately 3.262 light years in length."
• "In astronomy, the preferred unit of measurement for such distances is the parsec, which is defined as the distance at which an object will appear to move one arcsecond of parallax when the observer moves one astronomical unit perpendicular to the line of sight to the observer."