[1665–75; ‹ LL paralīpomena ‹ Gk (tà) paraleipómena (things) omitted, not told (prp. passive of paraleípein), equiv. to para- para-1 + leíp(ein) to leave behind + -omena neut. pl. prp. mediopassive suffix]This word is first recorded in the period 1665–75. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: diffraction, group, newsletter, setback, waderpara- is a prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, most often attached to verbs and verbalderivatives, with the meanings “at or to one side of, beside, side by side” (parabola; paragraph; parallel; paralysis), “beyond, past, by” (paradox; paragogue); by extension from these senses, this prefix came to designate objects or activitiesauxiliary to or derivative of that denoted by the base word (parody; paronomasia), and hence abnormal or defective (paranoia), a sense now common in modern scientific coinages (parageusia; paralexia). As an English prefix, para- may have any of these senses; it is also productive in the naming of occupationalroles considered ancillary or subsidiary to roles requiring more training, or of ahigher status, on such models as paramedical and paraprofessional (paralegal; paralibrarian; parapolice)