paraphernalia en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˌpɛɹəfəˈneɪli.ə/ (General-American)
- /ˌpæɹəfəˈneɪli.ə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˌpɛɹəfɚˈneɪli.ə/ (General-American)
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin paraphernālia (“goods which a wife brings over and above her dowry”), use as noun (short for paraphernālia bona (“paraphernal goods”)) of neuter plural of paraphernālis, from Late Latin parapherna + Latin -ālis (suffix forming adjectives), from Ancient Greek παράφερνα (parápherna), a compound of παρά (pará, “beside”) + φερνή (phernḗ, “dowry”). In the propertied classes, a dowry was placed under the control of the husband, while the paraphernalia which she brought with her remained the wife’s property.
Meanings
-
(plural, plural-only) Miscellaneous items, especially the set of equipment required for a particular activity.
Then the boys arrived, with their camping paraphernalia, and in such bubbling good spirits that the girls were infected with them, for they had become rather lonesome of late.
1913, Laura Lee Hope, chapter 21, in The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake:drug paraphernalia
He has an impressive collection of bicycling paraphernalia, but he doesn't ride very often anymore.
People such as William James and the Stephensons (with whom he collaborated) may have been the movers and shakers of the early railways, but there was other, less exalted bods who constructed all the paraphernalia—including stations.
2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and Facts behind railway plaques: Reading (1840)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 56:
-
(archaic, plural, plural-only, qualifier:family law) Objects that a married woman owns, such as clothing and jewellery, apart from her dowry.
So she told her what her husband had said and sat with her awhile; but, presently, up came porters, who brought all her clothes and paraphernalia and what not else belonged to her of goods and vessels from her husband’s house and deposited them in that of her mother.
1901, Unknown, “The House with the Belvedere”, in John Payne, transl., The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, volume 5:
Deriveds
Relateds
paraphernal · paraphernals · parapherna
Synonyms
parapherna · utensil · stuff · paraphernals
Translations (45)
mr सामान (miscellaneous items) · fr attirail (miscellaneous items) · de Paraphernalien (miscellaneous items) · ru принадле́жности (miscellaneous items) · or ସମାଗ୍ରୀ (miscellaneous items) · hi सामान (miscellaneous items) · pl parafernalia ((law) things a married woman owns) · ru снаряжение (miscellaneous items) · da utensilie (miscellaneous items) · cmn 隨身用具 /随身用具 (miscellaneous items) · fi vaimon omaisuus (miscellaneous items) · hu hóbelevanc (miscellaneous items) · pa ਸਮੱਗਰੀ (miscellaneous items) · es parafernalia (miscellaneous items) · it dote (miscellaneous items) · hu cucc (miscellaneous items) · nl spulletjes (miscellaneous items) · cmn 雜項物品 /杂项物品 (miscellaneous items) · ca faramalla (miscellaneous items) · de Utensilien (miscellaneous items) · nl onderdelen (miscellaneous items) · ca parafernàlia (miscellaneous items) · mr सामग्री (miscellaneous items) · pa ਸਾਮਾਨ (miscellaneous items) · cmn 雜件 /杂件 (miscellaneous items) · pt parafernália (miscellaneous items) · sa सामग्री (miscellaneous items) · sh parafernalije (miscellaneous items) · da grej (miscellaneous items) · fi vaimon omaisuus ((law) things a married woman owns) · de Paraphernalien ((law) things a married woman owns) · it armamentario (miscellaneous items) · bg принадлежности (miscellaneous items) · hi सामग्री (miscellaneous items) · it paraferni (miscellaneous items) · hu holmi (miscellaneous items) · bg дреболии (miscellaneous items) · cmn 各種物件 /各种物件 (miscellaneous items) · sv attiraljer (miscellaneous items) · fi varusteet (miscellaneous items) · fi tavarat (miscellaneous items) · fi tarvikkeet (miscellaneous items) · pl parafernalia (miscellaneous items) · fr panoplie (miscellaneous items) · it attrezzi (miscellaneous items)