parafernale

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin parafernālis, paraphernālis, derived from Latin parapherna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa.ra.ferˈna.le/
• Rhymes: -ale
• Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧fer‧nà‧le

Adjective

parafernale (plural parafernali)

1. (law) paraphernal

Noun

parafernale m (plural parafernali)

1. (rare, in the plural) tool, implement; paraphernal, a miscellaneous object

   Synonyms: attrezzo, strumento

   • 1980, Umberto Eco, “Primo giorno - Sesta”, in Il nome della rosa [The Name of the Rose] (I grandi tascabili), Milan: Bompiani, published 1984, page 51:

     [E]rano dunque quattro figure di vegliardi, dai cui parafernali riconobbi Pietro e Paolo, Geremia e Isaia

     [T]hey were four pictures of old men, from whose paraphernals [= objects they held, like keys for Peter] I recognized Peter and Paul, Jeremiah and Isaiah