Word of the Day

: September 21, 2024

paraphernalia

noun pair-uh-fuh-NAIL-yuh

What It Means

Paraphernalia can refer to objects or items that are used to do a particular activity, as well as objects or items that are typically associated with a particular activity, subject, etc. The word can also refer generally to personal belongings.

// Jordan’s childhood bedroom was filled with hockey paraphernalia.

// After weeks of packing up all our paraphernalia, we hit the road and headed to our new home.

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paraphernalia in Context

"Attendees schmoozed as they shopped the silent auction items which included sports paraphernalia, sports, entertainment, and vacation packages, and more." — Barbara Hendel, The Toledo (Ohio) Blade, 28 Mar. 2024

Did You Know?

Today, paraphernalia is typically encountered in its "equipment" and "accessories" senses in such common contexts as "fishing paraphernalia," "music paraphernalia," and "drug paraphernalia." But the word hasn't always been used in these ways. Originally, paraphernalia referred to property that a married woman owned herself, as distinct from her husband's property or the dowry she brought to the marriage. Paraphernalia came to English, via Medieval Latin, from the Greek term parapherna, meaning "bride's property beyond her dowry" (from para-, meaning "beyond," and phernē, meaning "dowry"). Although paraphernalia was plural in Medieval Latin, it can take either a singular or plural verb in English; in other words, both "coffee paraphernalia lines the café's shelves" and "coffee paraphernalia line the café's shelves" are acceptable.