Definitions for "parity check"
The act or process of testing whether a byte or other data structure has an even or odd number of bits set to the value of 1; -- it is used primarily to detect errors in data, especially in memory banks or in data transmitted over a communications line. The parity can be changed by assigning one bit in each data structure as the parity bit, so that the total number of bits set to the value of 1 is odd (odd parity) or even (even parity). If parity is used for error checking the writing and reading systems must first agree on which type of parity (odd or even) to use; if the reading system detects a deviation from the agreed parity, it signals an error, to be handled by the error-handling processes of the system.
an error-checking scheme that examines the number of transmitted bits in a block that hold the value one; for even parity, an overhead parity bit is set to either one or zero to make the total number
Addition of noninformation bits to data, making the number of ones in each grouping either always odd for odd parity or always even for even parity. This permits single error detection in each group. See also: error and error control.