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paragraph

 [par-uh-graf, -grahf]   Example Sentences Origin

par·a·graph

   [par-uh-graf, -grahf]
noun
1.
a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line.
2.
a paragraph mark.
3.
a note, item, or brief article, as in a newspaper.
verb (used with object)
4.
to divide into paragraphs.
5.
to write or publish paragraphs about, as in a newspaper.
6.
to express in a paragraph.

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Paragraph is one of our favorite verbs.
So is subtilize. Does it mean:
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
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Origin:
1515–25; earlier paragraphe < Greek paragraphḗ marked passage; see para-1, graph

Related forms
par·a·graph·ism, noun
par·a·gra·phis·ti·cal  [par-uh-gruh-fis-ti-kuhl] , adjective
sub·par·a·graph, noun
un·par·a·graphed, adjective
well-par·a·graphed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Paragraph
Example Sentences
  • Wonder it only has a small paragraph in this article.
  • It has a photo of the artist, two more images of artwork, and a paragraph about them.
  • Have students write a paragraph that summarizes the observations they made.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
paragraph (ˈpærəˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf)
 
—n
1.  (in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc
2.  printing the character ¶, used as a reference mark or to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph
3.  a short article in a newspaper
 
—vb
4.  to form into paragraphs
5.  to express or report in a paragraph
 
[C16: from Medieval Latin paragraphus, from Greek paragraphos line drawing attention to part of a text, from paragraphein to write beside, from para-1 + graphein to write]
 
paragraphic
 
—adj
 
para'graphical
 
—adj
 
para'graphically
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

paragraph
1490, from M.Fr. paragraphe (13c., O.Fr. paragrafe), from M.L. paragraphus "sign for start of a new section of discourse" (the sign looked something like a stylized letter -P-), from Gk. paragraphos "short stroke in the margin marking a break in sense," also "a passage so marked," lit. "anything written
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beside," from paragraphein "write by the side," from para- "beside" + graphein "to write."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

paragraph definition


A basic unit of prose. It is usually composed of several sentences that together develop one central idea. The main sentence in a paragraph is called the topic sentence.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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