means a fabric canopy that fills with air to slow a falling person or object to a safe landing speed.

from A French coinage stitched together from 'para-' (to guard against, as in 'parasol,' from Italian 'parare,' to shield) and 'chute' (a fall). So literally: a guard-against-falling. The word was minted in the late 18th century, in the era when balloonists were first looking down and thinking very hard about the way back.