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paraphernalia

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par⋅a⋅pher⋅na⋅lia

  [par-uh-fer-neyl-yuh, -fuh-neyl-]
Use paraphernalia in a Sentence
–noun
1. (sometimes used with a singular verb) equipment, apparatus, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity: a skier's paraphernalia.
2. (used with a plural verb) personal belongings.
3. (used with a singular verb) Law. the personal articles, apart from dower, reserved by law to a married woman.
Origin:
1470–80; < ML paraphernālia (bona) a bride's goods, beyond her dowry, equiv. to LL paraphern(a) a bride's property (< Gk parápherna, equiv. to para- para- 1 + phern() dowry, deriv. of phérein to bear 1 + -a neut. pl. n. suffix) + L -ālia, n. use of neut. pl. of -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
par⋅a⋅pher⋅na⋅lian, par⋅a⋅pher⋅nal  [par-uh-fur-nl] , adjective

Synonyms:
1. appointments, appurtenances, accouterments, trappings. 2. effects.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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par·a·pher·na·lia   (pār'ə-fər-nāl'yə, -fə-nāl'yə)   
pl.n.   (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

  1. Personal belongings.

  2. The articles used in a particular activity; equipment: a photographer's paraphernalia. See Synonyms at equipment.

  3. A married woman's personal property exclusive of her dowry, according to common law.


[Medieval Latin paraphernālia, neuter pl. of paraphernālis, pertaining to the parapherna, a married woman's property exclusive of her dowry, from Greek : para-, beyond; see para-1 + phernē, dowry; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

paraphernalia 
1651, "a woman's property besides her dowry," from M.L. paraphernalia (short for paraphernalia bona "paraphernal goods"), neut. pl. of paraphernalis (adj.), from L.L. parapherna "a woman's property besides her dowry," from Gk. parapherna, neut. pl., from para- "beside" + pherne "dowry," related to pherein "to carry" (see infer). Meaning "equipment, apparatus" is first attested 1791, from notion of odds and ends.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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