paraphernalia
paraphernalia Lexical Profile
paraphernalia Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Miscellaneous articles, especially the equipment, apparatus, or accessories needed for a particular activity.
"The garage was cluttered with camping gear, fishing rods, and other outdoor paraphernalia."
Historically in law, the personal property, such as clothing and jewelry, that a married woman remained entitled to keep as her own separate from her dowry.
"Under the old common-law statutes, a widow retained full ownership of her personal paraphernalia regardless of her husband's estate debts."
Word Nuance & Usage
Although morphologically a Latinate plural, 'paraphernalia' is construed with either a singular or a plural verb in modern English, with singular agreement being more common when referring to a collective body of equipment.
• Rhymes for paraphernalia
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from Medieval Latin paraphernalia, from Late Latin parapherna, and ultimately from Ancient Greek parapherna ('a bride's property beyond her dowry'), combining para- ('beside') and phernē ('dowry', from pherein, 'to carry').