paraphernalia

English

Etymology

A loan from Ancient Greek παράφερνα (parápherna, “goods which a wife brings over and above her dowry”), a compound of παρά (pará, “beside”) +‎ φερνή (phernḗ, “dowry”), i.e. “things additional to a 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpæɹəfəˈneɪli.ə/
• IPA^(key): /ˌpɛɹəfɚˈneɪli.ə/, /ˌpɛɹəfəˈneɪli.ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪliə
• Hyphenation: par‧a‧pher‧na‧lia

Noun

1. Miscellaneous items, especially the set of equipment required for a particular activity; stuff.

   He has an impressive collection of bicycling paraphernalia, but he doesn't ride very often anymore.

2. (archaic) Things a woman owns, apart from her dowry.

Synonyms

• (woman's possessions): parapherna

Translations

miscellaneous items

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雜項物品／杂项物品, 杂项物品 (záxiàng wùpǐn), 各種物件／各种物件, 各种物件 (gè zhǒng wùjiàn), 隨身用具／随身用具, 随身用具 (suíshēn yòngjù), 雜件／杂件 (zh) (zájiàn), 杂件 (zh) (zá jiàn)

• Dutch: onderdelen (nl), spulletjes (nl)
• Finnish: varusteet pl, tarvikkeet (fi), tavarat (fi)
• French: panoplie (fr) f, attirail (fr) m
• German: Utensilien (de) f pl
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: holmi (hu), cucc (hu), hóbelevanc (hu)
• Italian: paraferni m pl, armamentario m, attrezzi (it) m pl, dote (it) f
• Portuguese: parafernália (pt) f
• Russian: принадле́жности (ru) f pl (prinadléžnosti), снаряжение (ru) n (snarjaženije)
• Serbo-Croatian: parafernalije f pl
• Spanish: parafernalia (es) f
• Swedish: attiraljer (sv) pl