Para
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For the Brazilian state, see: Pará.
For other uses, see Para (disambiguation).
The term para- in English is an affix borrowed from Greek, directly or via Latin, where it is mostly used as a prefix. Its most common meaning is "similar to" or "near to."
In Greek παρά (para) means "beside," "with," or "alongside," such as in paragraph. In Latin, para means "against," "counter," "outside," or beyond. For example, parapluie in French means "counter-rain"–an umbrella
[edit] Meanings within certain fields
- In medicine, the prefix "para" is used to describe the number of times a woman has given birth: for example, a woman who has given birth once is described as para 1, and a woman who has given birth several times is described as multiparous, or multipara for short.
- In organic chemistry, para (along with ortho and meta) is used to distinguish the three types of isomer of disubstituted benzenes; para indicates that the substituents are at locants 1 and 4. It is printed in italics, and is often abbreviated as p in compound names (for example, p-xylene is short for para-xylene)
- In psychology and psychiatry, para is a prefix used to describe symptoms that mimic one disorder, that are occurring within another disorder, but not so severe as to be considered co-occurring or co-morbid (for example, para-borderline behavior in conjunction with complex post-traumatic stress disorder or a paraphilia)
- In cyberculture—specifically the online roleplaying subculture—para is an abbreviation for paragraph, differentiating the type of writing that uses multiple complete sentences in paragraph form from asterisk roleplaying (ie, *walks into a bar*).
[edit] Use as a prefix
- Parable
- Parabola
- Parachute
- Paradigm
- Paradox
- Paragon
- Paralegal
- Paramedic
- Paramilitary
- Paranormal
- Paraphilia
- Parapsychology
- Parasailing
- Paratrooper
- Paraconsistent_Logic
