In its original meaning, which is still the meaning used in mathematics and physics, "parallel" provides more information than just saying that the parallel things are located in different places in space. Such an information can be provided by other words.
One should not say that the pipeline stages are parallel, when the intended meaning is that they are separate or distinct, which is the correct precondition for their ability to work simultaneous in time.
"Parallel" says about two things that they are located side-by-side, with their front-to-back axes aligned, which is true for parallel execution units where the executions of multiple operations are initiated simultaneously in all subunits, but it is false for pipelined execution units, where the executions of multiple operations are initiated sequentially, both in the first stage and in all following stages, but the initiation of an execution is done before the completion of the previous execution, leading to executions that are overlapped in time.
The difference between parallel execution and pipelined execution is the same as between parallel connections and series connections in any kind of networks, e.g. electrical circuits or networks describing fluid flow.
Therefore it is better if the terms used in computing remain consistent with the terms used in mathematics, physics and engineering, which have already been used for centuries before the creation of the computing terminology.
One should not say that the pipeline stages are parallel, when the intended meaning is that they are separate or distinct, which is the correct precondition for their ability to work simultaneous in time.
"Parallel" says about two things that they are located side-by-side, with their front-to-back axes aligned, which is true for parallel execution units where the executions of multiple operations are initiated simultaneously in all subunits, but it is false for pipelined execution units, where the executions of multiple operations are initiated sequentially, both in the first stage and in all following stages, but the initiation of an execution is done before the completion of the previous execution, leading to executions that are overlapped in time.
The difference between parallel execution and pipelined execution is the same as between parallel connections and series connections in any kind of networks, e.g. electrical circuits or networks describing fluid flow.
Therefore it is better if the terms used in computing remain consistent with the terms used in mathematics, physics and engineering, which have already been used for centuries before the creation of the computing terminology.