paraclete (n.)

mid-15c., Paraclit, a title of the Holy Spirit, from Old French paraclet (13c.), from Medieval Latin paracletus, from a Church Latin rendering of Greek paraklētos "advocate, intercessor, legal assistant," noun use of an adjective meaning "called to one's aid," from parakalein "to call to one's aid," in later use "to comfort, to console," from para (see para- (1)) + kalein "to call" (from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout").

[I]n the widest sense, a helper, succorer, aider, assistant; so of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of gospel truth, and to give them the divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom .... [Thayer, "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament," 1889]

But also sometimes translated in English bibles as Advocate, on the notion of "intercession." The word was earlier borrowed directly from Latin as paraclitus (early 13c.).

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to paraclete

*kele- (2)

*kelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shout." Perhaps imitative.

It forms all or part of: acclaim; acclamation; Aufklarung; calendar; chiaroscuro; claim; Claire; clairvoyance; clairvoyant; clamor; Clara; claret; clarify; clarinet; clarion; clarity; class; clear; cledonism; conciliate; conciliation; council; declaim; declare; disclaim; ecclesiastic; eclair; exclaim; glair; hale (v.); halyard; intercalate; haul; keelhaul; low (v.); nomenclature; paraclete; proclaim; reclaim; reconcile.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit usakala "cock," literally "dawn-calling;" Latin calare "to announce solemnly, call out," clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim;" Middle Irish cailech "cock;" Greek kalein "to call," kelados "noise," kledon "report, fame;" Old High German halan "to call;" Old English hlowan "to low, make a noise like a cow;" Lithuanian kalba "language."

para- (1)

before vowels, par-, word-forming element of Greek origin, "alongside, beyond; altered; contrary; irregular, abnormal," from Greek para- from para (prep.) "beside, near; issuing from; against, contrary to" (from PIE *prea, from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "toward, near; against").

It is cognate with Old English for- "off, away." Originally in English in Greek-derived words; it has been active in English mostly in scientific and technical words, but until recently was not usually regarded as a naturalized formative element in English.

Trends of paraclete

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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promulgate

"make known by open declaration, publish, announce" (a decree, news, etc.), 1520s, from Latin promulgatus, past participle of promulgare "make publicly known, propose openly, publish," probably from pro "forth" (see pro-) + mulgere "to milk" (see milk (n.)), used metaphorically f

scorn

late 12c., scorn, skarn, "feeling or attitude of contempt; contemptuous treatment, mocking abuse," a shortening of Old French escarn "mockery, derision, contempt," a common Romanic word (Spanish escarnio, Italian scherno) of Germanic origin (source also of Old High German skern "

consternation

"astonishment combined with terror," 1610s, from French consternation "dismay, confusion," from Latin consternationem (nominative consternatio) "confusion, dismay," noun of state from past-participle stem of consternare "overcome, confuse, dismay, perplex, terrify, alarm," which

context

early 15c., "a composition, a chronicle, the entire text of a writing," from Latin contextus "a joining together," originally past participle of contexere "to weave together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + texere "to weave, to make" (from PIE root *te

loophole

also loop-hole, mid-15c., from hole (n.). + Middle English loupe "narrow window, slit-opening in a wall" for protection of archers while shooting, or for light and ventilation (c. 1300), which, along with Medieval Latin loupa, lobia probably is a specialized word from a continent

forget

Old English forgietan "lose the power of recalling to the mind; fail to remember; neglect inadvertently," from for-, used here probably with privative force, "away, amiss, opposite" + gietan "to grasp" (see get (v.)). To "un-get," hence "to lose" from the mind. A common Germanic

heuristic

"serving to discover or find out," 1821, irregular formation from Greek heuriskein "to find; find out, discover; devise, invent; get, gain, procure" (from PIE *were- (2) "to find;" cognate with Old Irish fuar "I have found") + -istic. As a noun, from 1860. Greek had heuretikos "i

fine

mid-13c., "unblemished, refined, pure, free of impurities," also "of high quality, choice," from Old French fin "perfected, of highest quality" (12c.), a back-formation from finire or else from Latin finis "that which divides, a boundary, limit, border, end" (see finish (v.)); he

beauty

early 14c., bealte, "physical attractiveness," also "goodness, courtesy," from Anglo-French beute, Old French biauté "beauty, seductiveness, beautiful person" (12c., Modern French beauté), earlier beltet, from Vulgar Latin *bellitatem (nominative bellitas) "state of being pleasin

dyslexia

"a difficulty in reading due to a condition of the brain," 1885, from German dyslexie (1883), from Greek dys- "bad, abnormal, difficult" (see dys-) + lexis "word" (taken as "reading"), from legein "speak" (from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives meaning "to

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updated on January 08, 2020

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