Online Etymology Dictionary

parabole (n.): "comparison, metaphor," 1580s, from Greek parabole "comparison" (see parable).
parabolic (adj.): mid-15c., from Late Latin parabolicus, from late Greek parabolikos "figurative," from parabole (see parable). Related: Parabolical.
paracentesis (n.): 1590s, from medical Latin form of Greek parakentesis "perforation," from parakentein "to pierce at the side," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + kentein "to prick, stab" (see center (n.)).
parachute (n.): 1784 (the year the use of one first was attempted, in Paris), from French parachute, literally "that which protects against a fall," hybrid coined by French aeronaut François Blanchard (1753-1809) from para- "defense against" (see para- (2)) + chute "a fall" (see chute).
PARACHUTE, a kind of large and strong umbrella, contrived to break a person's fall from an airballoon, should any accident happen to the balloon at a high elevation. ["Supplement to the Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," Philadelphia, 1803]
parachute (v.): 1807, from parachute (n.). Related: Parachuted; parachuting.
paraclete (n.): mid-15c., Paraclit, a title of the Holy Spirit, from Old French paraclet (13c.), from Medieval Latin paracletus, from Greek parakletos "advocate, intercessor, legal assistant," noun use of adjective meaning "called to one's aid," from parakalein "to call to one's aid," in later use "to comfort, to console," from para (see para- (1)) + kalein "to call" (see claim (v.)).
parade (n.): 1650s, "a show of bravado," also "an assembly of troops for inspections," from French parade "display, show, military parade," from Middle French parade (15c.), or from Italian parate "a warding or defending, a garish setting forth," or Spanish parada "a staying or stopping," all from Vulgar Latin *parata, from Latin parere "arrange, prepare, adorn" (see pare), which developed widespread senses in Romanic derivatives. Non-military sense of "march, procession" is first recorded 1670s.
parade (v.): 1680s (transitive), from parade (n.). Intransitive sense from 1748. Related: Paraded; parading.
paradigm (n.): late 15c., from Late Latin paradigma "pattern, example," especially in grammar, from Greek paradeigma "pattern, model; precedent, example," from paradeiknynai "exhibit, represent," literally "show side by side," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + deiknynai "to show" (cognate with Latin dicere "to show;" see diction). Related: Paradigmatic; paradigmatical.
paradise (n.): late 12c., "Garden of Eden," from Old French paradis "paradise, Garden of Eden" (11c.), from Late Latin paradisus, from Greek paradeisos "park, paradise, Garden of Eden," from an Iranian source similar to Avestan pairidaeza "enclosure, park" (Modern Persian and Arabic firdaus "garden, paradise"), compound of pairi- "around" + diz "to make, form (a wall)."

The first element is cognate with Greek peri- "around, about" (see per), the second is from PIE root *dheigh- "to form, build" (see dough).

The Greek word, originally used for an orchard or hunting park in Persia, was used in Septuagint to mean "Garden of Eden," and in New Testament translations of Luke xxiii:43 to mean "heaven" (a sense attested in English from c. 1200). Meaning "place like or compared to Paradise" is from c. 1300.
paradisiacal (adj.): 1630s, from Latin paradisiacus (from Greek paradeisiakos, from paradeisos; see paradise) + -al (1). Other adjective forms include paradisaic, paradisaical, paradisal, paradisean, paradisiac, paradisial, paradisian, paradisic, paradisical.
parados (n.): "rear wall of a trench," 1917, earlier "elevation behind a fortified place" (1853), literally "defense from the back," from French parados, from para- "defense" (see para- (2)) + dos "back" (see dossier).
paradox (n.): 1530s, "statement contrary to common belief or expectation," from Middle French paradoxe (14c.) and directly from Latin paradoxum "paradox, statement seemingly absurd yet really true," from Greek paradoxon, noun use of neuter of adjective paradoxos "contrary to expectation, incredible," from para- "contrary to" (see para- (1)) + doxa "opinion," from dokein "to appear, seem, think" (see decent). Meaning "statement that is seemingly self-contradictory yet not illogical or obviously untrue" is from 1560s.
paradoxical (adj.): 1580s, from paradox + -ical. Competing forms were paradoxal (1560s), paradoxial (1620s), but they survive in niches, if at all. Related: Paradoxically.
paraesthesia (n.): also paresthesia, 1835, from para- (here "disordered") + Greek aisthesis "perception, feeling" (from PIE root *au- "to perceive;" see audience) + abstract noun ending -ia.
paraffin (n.): 1838, from German Paraffin, coined c. 1830 by German chemist Karl von Reichenbach (1788-1869), who first obtained it as a waxy substance from wood tar, irregularly from Latin parum "not very, too little," probably related to parvus "little, small" (see parvi-) + affinis "associated with" (see affinity).

So called because paraffin is chemically not closely related to other substances. The liquid form (originally parafin oil) Reichenbach called eupion, but this was the standard meaning of paraffin in English by 1860.
paragon (n.): 1540s, from Middle French paragon "a model, pattern of excellence" (15c., Modern French parangon), from Italian paragone, originally "touchstone to test gold" (early 14c.), from paragonare "to test on a touchstone, compare," from Greek parakonan "to sharpen, whet," from para- "on the side" (see para- (1)) + akone "whetstone," from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (see acrid).
paragraph (n.): late 15c., from Middle French paragraphe "division of text" (13c., Old French paragrafe), from Medieval Latin paragraphus "sign for start of a new section of discourse" (the sign looked something like a stylized letter -P-), from Greek paragraphos "short stroke in the margin marking a break in sense," also "a passage so marked," literally "anything written beside," from paragraphein "write by the side," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy).
Paraguay: country is named for the river, which is said to be from Guarani para "water" + guay "born." Said to have been the name of a local chieftain who treated with the first Spanish explorers.
parakeet (n.): 1620s, from Spanish perquito; earlier English form parroket (1580s) is from Middle French paroquet, from Old French paroquet (14c.), which is said by etymologists of French to be from Italian parrocchetto, literally "little priest," from parroco "parish priest," from Church Latin parochus (see parish), or parrucchetto, diminutive of parrucca "peruke, periwig," in reference to the head plumage.

The Spanish form, meanwhile, is sometimes said to be a diminutive of Perico, familiar form of Pedro "Peter," and the Old French word is likewise perhaps from or influenced by a diminutive of Pierre "Peter." The relations of the Spanish and Italian forms, and the influence of folk etymology on either or both, are uncertain.
paralanguage (n.): 1958, from para- (1) + language.
paralegal (n.): 1972, from para- (1) + legal assistant.
paralipsis (n.): 1580s, from Greek paraleipsis "passing by omission," from paraleipein "to leave on one side, pass over, leave untold," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + leipein "to leave" (see relinquish).
parallax (n.): 1570s, from Middle French parallaxe (mid-16c.), from Greek parallaxis "change, alteration, inclination of two lines meeting at an angle," from parallassein "to alter, make things alternate," from para- (see para- (1)) + allassein "to change," from allos "other" (see alias (adv.)). Related: Parallactic.
parallel (adj.): 1540s, from Middle French parallèle (16c.) and directly from Latin parallelus, from Greek parallelos "parallel," from para allelois "beside one another," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + allelois "each other," from allos "other" (see alias (adv.)). As a noun from 1550s. Parallel bars as gymnastics apparatus are recorded from 1868.
parallel (v.): 1590s, from parallel (n.).
parallelism (n.): c. 1600, from Greek parallelismos, from parallelizein (see parallel).
parallelogram (n.): 1560s, from Middle French parallélogramme (1550s) and directly from Late Latin parallelogrammum, from Greek parallelogrammon noun use of neuter adjective meaning "bounded by parallel lines," from parallelos (see parallel) + stem of graphein "to write" (see -graphy).
paralyse (v.): alternative (chiefly British) spelling of paralyze. For ending, see -ize. Related: Paralysed; paralysing.
paralysis (n.): 1520s, from Latin paralysis, from Greek paralysis "paralysis, palsy," literally "loosening," from paralyein "disable, enfeeble," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + lyein "loosen, untie" (see lose).

Figurative use from 1813. Earlier form was paralysie (late 14c., see palsy). Old English equivalent was lyft adl (see left (adj.)) or crypelnes "crippleness."
paralytic: c. 1300 (adj.), late 14c. (n.), from Old French paralitique "paralyzed, unmoving," from Latin paralyticus, from Greek paralytikos, from paralysis (see paralysis).
paralyze (v.): 1804, from French paralyser (16c.), from Old French paralisie "paralysis," from Latin paralysis (see paralysis). Figurative use from 1805. Related: Paralyzed; paralyzing.
paramagnetic (adj.): 1850, from para- (1) + magnetic.
paramecium (n.): 1752, Modern Latin Paramecium, the genus name, coined from Greek paramekes "oblong, oval," from para- "on one side" (see para- (1)) + mekos "length," related to makros "long" (see macro-).
paramedic (n.): "medical technician," 1970, back-formation from paramedical. The meaning "medical corpsman who parachutes" is 1951 from para(chute) + medic.
paramedical (adj.): "related to medicine in an auxiliary capacity," 1908, from para- (1) + medical.
parameter (n.): 1650s in geometry, from Modern Latin parameter (1630s), from Greek para- "beside, subsidiary" (see para- (1)) + metron "measure" (see meter (n.2)).

A geometry term until 1920s when it yielded sense of "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system" (1927). Common modern meaning (influenced by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor" is from 1950s. Related: Parametric.
paramilitary (adj.): 1935, from para- (1) + military.
paramount (adj.): 1530s, from Anglo-French paramont, Old French paramont "above" (in place, order, degree), mid-14c., from Old French par "by," from Latin per "through, for, by" (see per (prep.)) + amont "up," from a mont "upward" (see amount (v.)). The whole from Latin per ad montem, literally "to the hill."
paramour (n.): c. 1300, noun use of adverbial phrase par amour (c. 1300) "passionately, with strong love or desire," from Anglo-French and Old French par amour, from accusative of amor "love," from amare "to love" (see Amy). Originally a term for Christ (by women) or the Virgin Mary (by men), it came to mean "darling, sweetheart" (mid-14c.) and "mistress, concubine, clandestine lover" (late 14c.).
paranoia (n.): "mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions," 1848 (earlier paranoea 1811), from Greek paranoia "mental derangement, madness," from paranoos "mentally ill, insane," from para- "beside, beyond" (see para- (1)) + noos "mind."
FOR several years frequent descriptions have been given in the foreign journals, especially German and Italian, of the forms of insanity designated by the names Paranoia, Verrücktkeit, and Wahnsinn. ["Paranoia -- Systematized Delusions and Mental Degenerations," J. Séglas (transl. William Noyes), 1888]
paranoiac: 1892 (n. and adj.), from paranoia on model of maniac, etc.
paranoid (adj.): 1901, irregularly formed from paranoia + -oid. As a noun, "a paranoid person," attested from 1922.
paranormal (adj.): 1905, from para- (1) + normal. Related: Paranormally.
parapet (n.): 1580s, from Middle French parapet "breastwork" (16c.), or directly from Italian parapetto, from para- "defense" (see para- (2)) + petto "breast," from Latin pectus (see pectoral (adj.)).
paraphernalia (n.): 1650s, "a woman's property besides her dowry," from Medieval Latin paraphernalia (short for paraphernalia bona "paraphernal goods"), neuter plural of paraphernalis (adj.), from Late Latin parapherna "a woman's property besides her dowry," from Greek parapherna, neuter plural, from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + pherne "dowry," related to pherein "to carry" (see infer). Meaning "equipment, apparatus" is first attested 1791, from notion of odds and ends.
paraphilia (n.): 1913, from German paraphilie (by 1903), apparently coined by Austrian ethnologist Friedrich Salomo Krauss (1859-1938) as literally "inverted erotic instinct," from Greek para- "beside, aside" (see para- (1)) + philos "loving" (see -phile).
The neurotic whose accompanying fancies always lead into forbidden ground (and this is what constitutes the guilt feeling of pollutions) fights against masturbation [pollutions] because it is connected with incest fancies, criminal desires, perversions, or as F.S. Krauss calls them, paraphilias. [Wm. J. Robinson, M.D., "Masturbation -- Injurious or Harmless," "American Journal of Urology," May 1913]

Krauss bereichert uns um das neue Wort "Paraphilie" anstelle der "Psychopathie," ein fortschrittlich-oppositionelles Wort zwar, aber auch nur ein Wort und als Aufklärung etwa so bedeutsam wie "Seitensprünge." ["Rezensionen" über die "Anthropophyteia Jahrbücher," Leipzig, 1907]
Popularized in psychology circles in English from c. 1918 in translation of work by Viennese-born psychotherapist Wilhelm Stekel (1868-1940); not in widespread use until 1950s. first used in "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" in 1980, as a morally neutral and more dignified label than perversion, to which it is nonetheless etymologically similar. Related: Paraphiliac; paraphilic.
paraphrase (n.): 1540s, from Middle French paraphrase (1520s), from Latin paraphrasis "a paraphrase," from Greek paraphrasis "a free rendering," from paraphrazein "to tell in other words," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + phrazein "to tell" (see phrase (n.)).
paraphrase (v.): c. 1600, from paraphrase (n.) or from French paraphraser. Related: Paraphrased; paraphrasing.
paraphrastic (adj.): from Medieval Latin paraphrasticus, from Greek paraphrastikos, from paraphrastes "one who paraphrases," from paraphrazein (see paraphrase (n.)). Related: Paraphrastical (1540s).