[1540–50; ‹ LL paraphrastēs ‹ Gk paraphraste᷄s, deriv. of paraphrázein to retell in other words, equiv. to para- para-1 + phrad-, base of phrázein to tell, declare + -tēs agent n. suffix, with dt ˃ st]This word is first recorded in the period 1540–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: flare, mandate, monitor, parallel, platformpara- 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)