paragraph

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Related to paragraph: topic sentence

par·a·graph

(păr′ə-grăf′)

1. A distinct division of written or printed matter that begins on a new, usually indented line, consists of one or more sentences, and typically deals with a single thought or topic or quotes one speaker's continuous words.

2. A mark ( ¶ ) used to indicate where a new paragraph should begin or to serve as a reference mark.

3. A brief article, notice, or announcement, as in a newspaper.

tr.v. par·a·graphed, par·a·graph·ing, par·a·graphs

To divide or arrange into paragraphs.

[Middle English paragraf, from Old French paragrafe, from Medieval Latin paragraphus, from Greek paragraphos, line showing a break in sense or a change of speakers in a dialogue, from paragraphein, to write beside : para-, beside; see para-¹ + graphein, to write; see gerbh- in Indo-European roots.]

par′a·graph′ic, par′a·graph′i·cal adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

paragraph

(ˈpærəˌɡrɑːf; -ˌɡræf)

1. (Linguistics) (in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc

2. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) printing the character ¶, used as a reference mark or to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph

3. (Journalism & Publishing) a short article in a newspaper

vb (tr)

4. (Linguistics) to form into paragraphs

5. (Journalism & Publishing) to express or report in a paragraph

[C16: from Medieval Latin paragraphus, from Greek paragraphos line drawing attention to part of a text, from paragraphein to write beside, from para-¹ + graphein to write]

paragraphic, ˌparaˈgraphical adj

ˌparaˈgraphically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

par•a•graph

(ˈpær əˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf)

n.

1. a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, beginning on a new line that is usu. indented.

2. paragraph mark.

3. a brief article or notice, as in a newspaper.

v.t.

4. to divide into paragraphs.

5. to write or publish paragraphs about.

[1515–25; earlier paragraphe < Greek paragraphḗ marked passage; see para-¹, graph]

par`a•graph′ic (-ˈgræf ɪk) adj.

par`a•graph′i•cal•ly, adv.

paragraph

Past participle: paragraphed
Gerund: paragraphing

Imperative
paragraph
paragraph

Present
I paragraph
you paragraph
he/she/it paragraphs
we paragraph
you paragraph
they paragraph

Preterite
I paragraphed
you paragraphed
he/she/it paragraphed
we paragraphed
you paragraphed
they paragraphed

Present Continuous
I am paragraphing
you are paragraphing
he/she/it is paragraphing
we are paragraphing
you are paragraphing
they are paragraphing

Present Perfect
I have paragraphed
you have paragraphed
he/she/it has paragraphed
we have paragraphed
you have paragraphed
they have paragraphed

Past Continuous
I was paragraphing
you were paragraphing
he/she/it was paragraphing
we were paragraphing
you were paragraphing
they were paragraphing

Past Perfect
I had paragraphed
you had paragraphed
he/she/it had paragraphed
we had paragraphed
you had paragraphed
they had paragraphed

Future
I will paragraph
you will paragraph
he/she/it will paragraph
we will paragraph
you will paragraph
they will paragraph

Future Perfect
I will have paragraphed
you will have paragraphed
he/she/it will have paragraphed
we will have paragraphed
you will have paragraphed
they will have paragraphed

Future Continuous
I will be paragraphing
you will be paragraphing
he/she/it will be paragraphing
we will be paragraphing
you will be paragraphing
they will be paragraphing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been paragraphing
you have been paragraphing
he/she/it has been paragraphing
we have been paragraphing
you have been paragraphing
they have been paragraphing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been paragraphing
you will have been paragraphing
he/she/it will have been paragraphing
we will have been paragraphing
you will have been paragraphing
they will have been paragraphing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been paragraphing
you had been paragraphing
he/she/it had been paragraphing
we had been paragraphing
you had been paragraphing
they had been paragraphing

Conditional
I would paragraph
you would paragraph
he/she/it would paragraph
we would paragraph
you would paragraph
they would paragraph

Past Conditional
I would have paragraphed
you would have paragraphed
he/she/it would have paragraphed
we would have paragraphed
you would have paragraphed
they would have paragraphed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

paragraph

A distinct part of a text, usually marked by beginning on a new, indented, line.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	paragraph - one of several distinct subdivisions of a text intended to separate ideas; the beginning is usually marked by a new indented line piece of writing, written material, writing - the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect); "the writing in her novels is excellent"; "that editorial was a fine piece of writing" text, textual matter - the words of something written; "there were more than a thousand words of text"; "they handed out the printed text of the mayor's speech"; "he wants to reconstruct the original text"
Verb	1.	paragraph - divide into paragraphs, as of text; "This story is well paragraphed" carve up, dissever, divide, split, split up, separate - separate into parts or portions; "divide the cake into three equal parts"; "The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I"
	2.	paragraph - write about in a paragraph; "All her friends were paragraphed in last Monday's paper" indite, pen, write, compose - produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels"
	3.	paragraph - write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher authorship, penning, writing, composition - the act of creating written works; "writing was a form of therapy for him"; "it was a matter of disputed authorship" indite, pen, write, compose - produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels"

paragraph

noun section, part, notice, item, passage, clause, portion, subdivision The length of a paragraph should depend on the information it contains.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

paragraph

noun

A usually brief detail of news or information:

bit, item, piece, squib, story.

Translations

فِقَرَةٌفِقْرَه

odstavec

afsnit

Absatz Abschnitt Paragraf Paragraph

paragrafo

kappale

paragraf

málsgrein

paragrafo capoverso

段落

문단

paragrafaspastraipa

rindkopa

paragraf

odstavek

stycke

ย่อหน้า

paragraf

đoạn văn

文章的段段落节

paragraph

[ˈpærəgrɑːf]

A. N → párrafo m, (punto) acápite m (LAm); (in law etc) → aparte m; (= short article in newspaper) → suelto m
"new paragraph" → "(punto y) aparte"

B. VT → dividir en párrafos

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

paragraph

[ˈpærəgrɑːf] n → paragraphe m
to begin a new paragraph → aller à la ligne

paragraph

→ Absatz m, → Abschnitt m; “new paragraph” → „(neuer) Absatz“; paragraph mark (Comput) → Absatzmarke f, → Absatzzeichen nt

(= brief article) → Notiz f

vt → (in Abschnitte) gliedern, aufgliedern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

paragraph

[ˈpærəgrɑːf] n (gen) → paragrafo; (in newspaper) → trafiletto
to begin a new paragraph → andare a capo

paragraph

(ˈpӕrəgraːf) noun

a part of a piece of writing, marked by beginning the first sentence on a new line and usually leaving a short space at the beginning of the line. There are a couple of paragraphs about football on page three of today's paper.

paragraph

→ فِقَرَةٌ odstavec afsnit Absatz παράγραφος párrafo kappale paragraphe paragraf paragrafo 段落 문단 paragraaf avsnitt akapit parágrafo параграф stycke ย่อหน้า paragraf đoạn văn 段落

References in classic literature ?

The above paragraph in the original editions (1726) takes another form, commencing:-"I told him that should I happen to live in a kingdom where lots were in vogue," &c.

View in context

In the ninth paragraph of the Prologue, for instance, it is quite obvious that "Herdsmen" in the verse "Herdsmen, I say, etc., etc.," stands for all those to-day who are the advocates of gregariousness--of the ant-hill.

View in context

Every paragraph has the side-head, "London," "Vienna," or some other town, and a date.

View in context

Anybody can see that between the last paragraph of "An Outcast" and the first of "The Lagoon" there has been no change of pen, figuratively speaking.

View in context

Listlessly his tired eyes turned from paragraph to paragraph until these words arrested them:

View in context

There is, however, among these notes the following interesting paragraph, written in 1840 and clearly foreshadowing The Great Stone Face:

View in context

The other day I saw in the Baltimore Sun the following paragraph:

View in context

At the point which I had reached in a preceding paragraph of this account, the situation was as follows: two horses lay dying; the bull had scattered his persecutors for the moment, and stood raging, panting, pawing the dust in clouds over his back, when the man that had been wounded returned to the ring on a remount, a poor blindfolded wreck that yet had something ironically military about his bearing - and the next moment the bull had ripped him open and his bowls were dragging upon the ground: and the bull was charging his swarm of pests again.

View in context

They were at once ascribed to Poe, and in order to satisfy questioners, an editorial paragraph subsequently appeared saying they were by "A.

View in context

The next paragraph asserted that the said Eustace Macallan, taken before John Daviot, Esquire, advocate, Sheriff-Substitute of Mid-Lothian, did in his presence at Edinburgh (on a given date, viz., the 29th of October), subscribe a Declaration stating his innocence of the alleged crime: this Declaration being reserved in the Indictment--together with certain documents, papers and articles, enumerated in an Inventory--to be used in evidence against the prisoner.

View in context

"It's only a paragraph, but it seems to me rather good."

View in context

Partly from the accidental gossip of the women at the table in the servants' hall; partly from a marked paragraph in a Swiss newspaper, which she had found one morning lying open on the admiral's easy-chair -- she gained the welcome assurance that no danger was to be dreaded, this time, from the housekeeper's presence on the scene.