par-

variant of para-¹. before a vowel: parenchyma.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

par-

—*prefix*
	a variant of para-

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Par- is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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para- or (before a vowel) par-¹

—*prefix*
1.	beside; near: parameter; parathyroid
2.	beyond: parapsychology
3.	resembling: paramnesia
4.	defective; abnormal: paraesthesia
5.	subsidiary to: paraphysis
6.	(usually in italics) ortho- Compare meta- p- denoting that an organic compound contains a benzene ring with substituents attached to atoms that are directly opposite across the ring (the 1,4- positions): paradinitrobenzene; para-cresol
7.	denoting an isomer, polymer, or compound related to a specified compound: paraldehyde; paracasein
8.	Compare ortho- denoting the form of a diatomic substance in which the spins of the two constituent atoms are antiparallel: parahydrogen

[from Greek para (prep) alongside, beyond]

par- or (before a vowel) par-¹

—*prefix*

[from Greek para (prep) alongside, beyond]

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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Matching Quote

"Blake and Goethe were individualists par excellence, uncompromisingly protective of their single vision. In both Faust Part II and The Four Zoas, emphasis on the universality of the poet's message contrasts with the resistant texture of a compressed style and the striking complexity of the mythological machinery. Blake likes to emphasize that he is not writing for the simple-minded; Goethe takes a teasing pleasure in keeping philologists busy. Faust and The Four Zoas are dramatic epics of Humanity, but embodied in a mythic language whose uniqueness and quirkiness are jealously guarded. Blake never published The Four Zoas, though it culminates his early prophecies and provides the indispensable key to the later ones. And Goethe refused to allow Faust Part II to be printed in its entirety until after his death. Both poets postponed the public's discovery of their central works; secrecy was enforced as long as it could be."

-Martin Bidney

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paronychia parabiosis paradisiacal paraesthesia paragenesis parageusia

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