entry
paraphrase
/ˈpærəfreɪz/A restatement preserving the original meaning
From Greek para- (beside) + Greek phrase (speech).
from Latin paraphrasis "a paraphrase,"
+1 more sourcefrom French paraphrase (1520s)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin paraphrasis "a paraphrase,"
+1 more sourcefrom French paraphrase (1520s)
+1 more sourceImagine an ancient Greek speaker placing one expression beside another, like two versions of the same scene on adjacent scrolls. That is the force of pará-, “beside,” joined to phrásis, “speech” or “expression”: not a word-for-word copy, but meaning retold from a neighboring angle. The Greek compound παράφρασις passed into Latin as paraphrasis, then into Middle French paraphrase in the 1520s, before arriving in English in the 1540s. Its cousin phrase comes from the same Greek family of telling and declaring, while metaphrastic uses meta-, “change,” for a close or literal translation. The memorable trick is spatial: to paraphrase is to put your words beside the original—not replace its meaning, but give it a new outfit.
The Story
Imagine an ancient Greek speaker placing one expression beside another, like two versions of the same scene on adjacent scrolls. That is the force of pará-, “beside,” joined to phrásis, “speech” or “expression”: not a word-for-word copy, but meaning retold from a neighboring angle. The Greek compound παράφρασις passed into Latin as paraphrasis, then into Middle French paraphrase in the 1520s, before arriving in English in the 1540s. Its cousin phrase comes from the same Greek family of telling and declaring, while metaphrastic uses meta-, “change,” for a close or literal translation. The memorable trick is spatial: to paraphrase is to put your words beside the original—not replace its meaning, but give it a new outfit.
Kin & Kindred
From 'para-'·beside, alongside, beyond
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'phrase'·speech, expression, telling
Derived Terms
English words from this root