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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Parenthesis \Pa*ren"the*sis\ (p[.a]*r[e^]n"th[-e]*s[i^]s), noun; pl. {Parentheses}. [NL., fr. Gr. pare'nqesis, fr. parentiqe'nai to put in beside, insert; para' beside + 'en in + tiqe'nai to put, place. See {Para-}, {En-}, 2, and {Thesis}.]
1. A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or dashes. ''Seldom mentioned without a derogatory parenthesis.'' --Sir T. Browne.
Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you away into a long parenthesis. --Watts.
2. (Print.) One of the curved lines () which inclose a parenthetic word or phrase.
Note: Parenthesis, in technical grammar, is that part of a sentence which is inclosed within the recognized sign; but many phrases and sentences which are punctuated by commas are logically parenthetical. In def. 1, the phrase ''by way of comment or explanation'' is inserted for explanation, and the sentence would be grammatically complete without it. The present tendency is to avoid using the distinctive marks, except when confusion would arise from a less conspicuous separation.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
parenthesis
noun
1: either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material
2: a message that departs from the main subject [syn: {digression}, {aside}, {excursus}, {divagation}] [also: {parentheses} (pl)]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
parentheses See {parenthesis}
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
parentheses See {left parenthesis}, {right parenthesis}. (1997-12-03)
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