Talk:para-

Etymology

The "etymology 3 derived terms box" holds a few errors, at least paramedic, that one holds more the meaning of besides the hospital or something rather than jumping with a parachute to the victims. Please check for more errors. Mallerd 23:49, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

RFV discussion

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para-#Etymology 2 All the derived terms shown are actually words borrowed whole from vintages of French or Italian. Thus the entry offers no evidence that this was ever a prefix in English. DCDuring TALK 18:56, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

It's in the OED. The entry states that the prefix is present in many borrowings from French and Italian, viz. parachute, parados, parapet, parapluie, parasol, and paravent. It further states that "English formations are rare", but that parabore, paragrandine, and paravane are examples. AFAIK, three attested coinages are all that are required to verify an affix.  — Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 23:10, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

Excellent. Thanks for the the help. DCDuring TALK 00:09, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome. :-)  — Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 00:45, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

The spelling para-bore seems more common.

I am surprised that the OED says paragrandine was formed in English, as early English citations refer to this "hailstone shield" (or whatever it is) as having been invented in Italy and grandine (“hail”) is Italian.

It seems that the last productive use was (deprecated template usage) paravane (1919), but the sense doesn't fit. A "paravane" is not device for warding off vanes, it is a device equipped with vanes. It seems more like a derivative of (deprecated template usage) parachute, which has been in English since 1785! para-#Etymology 3 contains others like that.

I tentatively conclude that para-#Etymology 2 is obsolete and unproductive.

If you can't rely on the OED, who can you rely on? DCDuring TALK 01:01, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Striking — "kept", not per se "passed" — per discussion with nominator. —Ruakh_TALK 17:16, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Additional definition?

Can prefix this also mean "contrary to" (as in paraliturgical)? 173.88.246.138 03:25, 1 December 2020 (UTC)