Dictionary

paraph en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /pəˈræf/ (US)
• /ˈpɛrəf/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpaɹəf/ (UK)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English paraf, from Medieval Latin paraffus or its etymon Middle French paraphe, paraffe, shortening of paragraphe, from Ancient Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos).

Meanings

1. A flourish made after or below one's signature, originally to prevent forgery.
2. A mark used by medieval rubricators to indicate textual division.
   • Commencing with a C-shaped paraph-sign in the same brown ink, the glosses are linked to their corresponding passages by alphabetic signs comprising single letters in a sequence beginning with a in each margin, moving on to b, c, and d down the page, and, ideally, linking with the same letter in the adjacent column. Such a pairing allows for matching the gloss with the specific location in the text where its comment should be considered. 2016 October 3, “It’s A Wrap”, in Research Group on Manuscript Evidence:

Forms

Relateds

pilcrow · autograph

Synonyms

flourish

Translations (9)

ru пара́ф (flourish after signature) · fr paraphe (flourish after signature) · it parafa (flourish after signature) · it paraffa (flourish after signature) · bg завъртулка (flourish after signature) · eo parafo (flourish after signature) · ru ро́счерк (flourish after signature) · de Paraphe (flourish after signature) · it paraffo (flourish after signature)

paraph en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /pəˈræf/ (US)
• /ˈpɛrəf/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpaɹəf/ (UK)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English paraf, from Medieval Latin paraffus or its etymon Middle French paraphe, paraffe, shortening of paragraphe, from Ancient Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To add a paraph to; to sign, especially with one's initials.

Forms