Paragraph
/ˈpæɹəɡɹɑːf/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A passage in text that starts on a new line, the first line sometimes being indented, and usually marks a change of topic.
"opening paragraph"
- 2 one of several distinct subdivisions of a text intended to separate ideas; the beginning is usually marked by a new indented line wordnet
- 3 A mark or note set in the margin to call attention to something in the text, such as a change of subject.
- 4 A brief article, notice, or announcement, as in a newspaper.
"Much of its earliest foreign news came direct from the minister, and not seldom in his own hand. Louis XIII. took a keen, perhaps a somewhat childish, interest in the progress of the infant Gazette, and was a frequent contributor, now and then taking his little paragraphs to the printing office himself, and seeing them put into type."
- 5 An offset of 16 bytes in Intel memory architectures.
Verb
- 1 To sort text into paragraphs. transitive
- 2 write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher wordnet
- 3 To publish a brief article, notice, or announcement, as in a newspaper. transitive
- 4 write about in a paragraph wordnet
- 5 divide into paragraphs, as of text wordnet
Example
More examples"The paragraph emphasises the message."
Etymology
From Middle English paragraf, from Middle French paragraphe from Latin paragraphus (“sign for start of a new section of discourse”), from Ancient Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos), from παρά (pará, “beside”) and γράφω (gráphō, “I write”). Doublet of paragraphos.