Online Etymology Dictionary

paralytic: c.1300 (adj.), late 14c. (n.), from Old French paralitique "paralyzed, unmoving," from Latin paralyticus, from Greek paralytikos, from paralysis (see paralysis).
paralyze (v.): 1804, from French paralyser (16c.), from Old French paralisie "paralysis," from Latin paralysis (see paralysis). Figurative use from 1805. Related: Paralyzed; paralyzing.
paramagnetic (adj.): 1850, from para- (1) + magnetic.
paramecium (n.): 1752, Modern Latin Paramecium, the genus name, coined from Greek paramekes "oblong, oval," from para- "on one side" (see para- (1)) + mekos "length," related to makros "long" (see macro-).
paramedic (n.): "medical technician," 1970, back-formation from paramedical. The meaning "medical corpsman who parachutes" is 1951 from para(chute) + medic.
paramedical (adj.): "related to medicine in an auxiliary capacity," 1908, from para- (1) + medical.
parameter (n.): 1650s in geometry, from Modern Latin parameter (1630s), from Greek para- "beside, subsidiary" (see para- (1)) + metron "measure" (see meter (n.2)).

A geometry term until 1920s when it yielded sense of "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system" (1927). Common modern meaning (influenced by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor" is from 1950s. Related: Parametric.
paramilitary (adj.): 1935, from para- (1) + military.
paramount (adj.): 1530s, from Anglo-French paramont, Old French paramont "above" (in place, order, degree), mid-14c., from Old French par "by," from Latin per "through, for, by" (see per (prep.)) + amont "up," from a mont "upward" (see amount (v.)). The whole from Latin per ad montem, literally "to the hill."
paramour (n.): c.1300, noun use of adverbial phrase par amour (c.1300) "passionately, with strong love or desire," from Anglo-French and Old French par amour, from accusative of amor "love," from amare "to love" (see Amy). Originally a term for Christ (by women) or the Virgin Mary (by men), it came to mean "darling, sweetheart" (mid-14c.) and "mistress, concubine, clandestine lover" (late 14c.).
paranoia (n.): "mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions," 1848 (earlier paranoea 1811), from Greek paranoia "mental derangement, madness," from paranoos "mentally ill, insane," from para- "beside, beyond" (see para- (1)) + noos "mind."
FOR several years frequent descriptions have been given in the foreign journals, especially German and Italian, of the forms of insanity designated by the names Paranoia, Verrücktkeit, and Wahnsinn. ["Paranoia -- Systematized Delusions and Mental Degenerations," J. Séglas (transl. William Noyes), 1888]
paranoiac: 1892 (n. and adj.), from paranoia on model of maniac, etc.
paranoid (adj.): 1901, irregularly formed from paranoia + -oid. As a noun, "a paranoid person," attested from 1922.
paranormal (adj.): 1905, from para- (1) + normal. Related: Paranormally.
parapet (n.): 1580s, from Middle French parapet "breastwork" (16c.), or directly from Italian parapetto, from para- "defense" (see para- (2)) + petto "breast," from Latin pectus (see pectoral (adj.)).
paraphernalia (n.): 1650s, "a woman's property besides her dowry," from Medieval Latin paraphernalia (short for paraphernalia bona "paraphernal goods"), neuter plural of paraphernalis (adj.), from Late Latin parapherna "a woman's property besides her dowry," from Greek parapherna, neuter plural, from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + pherne "dowry," related to pherein "to carry" (see infer). Meaning "equipment, apparatus" is first attested 1791, from notion of odds and ends.
paraphilia (n.): 1913, from German paraphilie (by 1903), apparently coined by Austrian ethnologist Friedrich Salomo Krauss (1859-1938) as literally "inverted erotic instinct," from Greek para- "beside, aside" (see para- (1)) + philos "loving" (see -phile).
The neurotic whose accompanying fancies always lead into forbidden ground (and this is what constitutes the guilt feeling of pollutions) fights against masturbation [pollutions] because it is connected with incest fancies, criminal desires, perversions, or as F.S. Krauss calls them, paraphilias. [Wm. J. Robinson, M.D., "Masturbation -- Injurious or Harmless," "American Journal of Urology," May 1913]

Krauss bereichert uns um das neue Wort "Paraphilie" anstelle der "Psychopathie," ein fortschrittlich-oppositionelles Wort zwar, aber auch nur ein Wort und als Aufklärung etwa so bedeutsam wie "Seitensprünge." ["Rezensionen" über die "Anthropophyteia Jahrbücher," Leipzig, 1907]
Popularized in psychology circles in English from c.1918 in translation of work by Viennese-born psychotherapist Wilhelm Stekel (1868-1940); not in widespread use until 1950s. first used in "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" in 1980, as a morally neutral and more dignified label than perversion, to which it is nonetheless etymologically similar. Related: Paraphiliac; paraphilic.
paraphrase (n.): 1540s, from Middle French paraphrase (1520s), from Latin paraphrasis "a paraphrase," from Greek paraphrasis "a free rendering," from paraphrazein "to tell in other words," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + phrazein "to tell" (see phrase (n.)).
paraphrase (v.): c.1600, from paraphrase (n.) or from French paraphraser. Related: Paraphrased; paraphrasing.
paraphrastic (adj.): from Medieval Latin paraphrasticus, from Greek paraphrastikos, from paraphrastes "one who paraphrases," from paraphrazein (see paraphrase (n.)). Related: Paraphrastical (1540s).
paraplegia (n.): "paralysis of the lower half of the body," 1650s, Latinized form of (Ionic) Greek paraplegie "paralysis of one side of the body," from paraplessein "strike at the side," paraplessesthai "be stricken on one side," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + plessein "to strike" (see plague (n.)).
paraplegic (adj.): c.1822; see paraplegia + -ic. The noun meaning "paraplegic person" is first recorded 1890. An earlier adjectival form was paraplectic (1660s).
parapraxis (n.): "faulty action, blunder," 1904, from Modern Latin, from para- "contrary" (see para- (1)) + Greek praxis "a doing, transaction, business" (see praxis). In psychology, a minor error held to reveal a subconscious motive.
paraprofessional (adj.): 1962, from para- (1) + professional (adj.). As a noun from 1968.
parapsychology (n.): 1924, from para- (1) "beside" + psychology.
paraquat (n.): quick-acting herbicide, 1961, from para- (1) + first element in quaternary. So called in reference to its chemical configuration.
parasail (n.): 1963, from first element of parachute + sail. As a verb from 1970. Related: Parasailing.
parasite (n.): 1530s, "a hanger-on, a toady, person who lives on others," from Middle French parasite (16c.) or directly from Latin parasitus "toady, sponger," and directly from Greek parasitos "one who lives at another's expense, person who eats at the table of another," from noun use of an adjective meaning "feeding beside," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + sitos "food," of unknown origin. Scientific meaning "animal or plant that lives on others" is first recorded 1640s (implied in parasitical).
parasitic (adj.): 1620s, from Latin parasiticus, from Greek parasitikos "of or pertaining to a parasite; the trade of a parasite," from parasitos (see parasite). Biological sense is from 1731. Related: Parasitical, 1570s in reference to toadies; from 1640s in the biological sense.
parasitism (n.): 1610s, from parasite + -ism. Biological sense is from 1853.
parasol (n.): 1610s, from Middle French parasol (1570s), from Italian parasole, literally "protection from the sun," from para- "defense against" (see para- (2)) + sole "sun," from Latin solem (nominative sol; see sol).
parastate (n.): also para-state, 1959, from para- (1) "beside" + state (n.). Related: Parastatal.
parasympathetic (adj.): 1905, from para- (1) "beside" + sympathetic.
parataxis (n.): 1838, from Greek parataxis "a placing side by side, a placing in line of battle," from stem of paratassein "to place side by side," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + tassein "to arrange" (see tactics). Related: Paratactic.
paratransit (n.): also para-transit, 1973, from para- (1) + transit.
paratrooper (n.): 1941, from parachute + trooper. The collective noun paratroops is first recorded 1940. Earliest reference is to the German invaders who were expected to drop on England.
paratroops (n.): 1940, from parachute + plural of troop (n.).
parboil (v.): late 14c., "to boil partially;" mid-15c., "to boil thoroughly," from Old French parboillir "to boil thoroughly," from Medieval Latin perbullire "to boil thoroughly," from Latin per "through, thoroughly" + bullire "to boil" (see boil (v.)). Main modern meaning "boil partially" is by mistaken association of the prefix with part. Related: Parboiled; parboiling.
parcel (n.): late 14c., "a portion of something, a part" (sense preserved in phrase parcel of land, c.1400), from Old French parcele "small piece, particle, parcel," from Vulgar Latin *particella, diminutive of Latin particula "small part, little bit," itself a diminutive of pars (genitive partis) "part" (see part (n.)).

Meaning "package" is first recorded 1640s, earlier "a quantity of goods in a package" (mid-15c.), from late 14c. sense of "an amount or quantity of anything." The expression part and parcel (early 15c.) also preserves the older sense; both words mean the same, the multiplicity is for emphasis.
parcel (v.): "to divide into small portions," early 15c. (with out), from parcel (n.). Related: Parceled; parcelled; parceling; parcelling.
parch (v.): late 14c., "to roast or dry" (peas, beans, corn, etc.), of uncertain origin. Klein and OED reject derivations from Old North French perchier (Old French percer) "to pierce" and Latin persiccare "to dry thoroughly." Barnhart suggests possibly from Middle English perchen, variant of perishen "to perish" (see perish). Klein "tentatively" suggests a back-formation from parchment. Surname Parchecorn is attested from mid-14c. Meaning "to dry with excessive heat" is mid-15c. Related: Parched; parching.
parcheesi (n.): 1800, from Hindi pachisi, from pachis "twenty-five" (highest throw of the dice), from Sanskrit panca "five" (see five) + vinsati-s "twenty." Modern spelling outside India, with intrusive -r-, was enshrined 1892 by trademark name.
parchment (n.): c.1300, parchemin (c.1200 as a surname), from Old French parchemin (11c., Old North French parcamin), from Late Latin pergamena "parchment," noun use of adjective (as in pergamena charta, Pliny), from Late Greek pergamenon "of Pergamon," from Pergamon "Pergamum" (modern Bergama), city in Mysia in Asia Minor where parchment supposedly first was adopted as a substitute for papyrus, 2c. B.C.E. Possibly influenced in Vulgar Latin by Latin parthica (pellis) "Parthian (leather)." Altered in Middle English by confusion with nouns in -ment and by influence of Medieval Latin collateral form pergamentum.
pard (n.1): archaic form of leopard, c.1300, from Latin pardus "a male panther," from Greek pardos "male panther," from the same source (probably Iranian) as Sanskrit prdaku-s "leopard, tiger, snake," and Persian palang "panther."
pard (n.2): 1850, dialectal shortening of pardener (1795), representing a common pronunciation of partner (n.).
pardon (n.): late 13c., "papal indulgence," from Old French pardon, from pardoner "to grant; forgive" (11c., Modern French pardonner), "to grant, forgive," from Vulgar Latin *perdonare "to give wholeheartedly, to remit," from Latin per- "through, thoroughly" (see per) + donare "give, present" (see donation).

Meaning "passing over an offense without punishment" is from c.1300, also in the strictly ecclesiastical sense; sense of "pardon for a civil or criminal offense; release from penalty or obligation" is from late 14c. earlier in Anglo-French. Weaker sense of "excuse for a minor fault" is attested from 1540s.
pardon (v.): mid-15c., "to forgive for offense or sin," from Old French pardoner (see pardon (n.)).
'I grant you pardon,' said Louis XV to Charolais, who, to divert himself, had just killed a man; 'but I also pardon whoever will kill you.' [Marquis de Sade, "Philosophy in the Bedroom"]
Related: Pardoned; pardoning. Pardon my French as exclamation of apology for obscene language is from 1895.
pardonable (adj.): mid-15c., from Old French pardonable (12c.), from pardoner (see pardon (v.)). Related: Pardonably.
pardoner (n.): "man licensed to sell papal pardons or indulgences," mid-14c., agent noun from pardon (v.).
pare (v.): "to trim by cutting close," c.1300, from Old French parer "arrange, prepare; trim, adorn," and directly from Latin parare "make ready, furnish, provide, arrange, order," related to parere "produce, bring forth, give birth to," from PIE root *pere- "produce, procure, bring forward, bring forth," and derived words in diverse senses (cf. Lithuanian pariu "to brood," Greek poris "calf, bull," Old High German farro, German Farre "bullock," Old English fearr "bull," Sanskrit prthukah "child, calf, young of an animal," Czech spratek "brat, urchin, premature calf"). Generalized meaning "to reduce something little by little" is from 1520s. Related: Pared; paring.