paranormal

Forms

paranormal (feminine paranormale, masculine plural paranormaux, feminine plural paranormales)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French para- + normal.^[2][3][4][1] The prefix comes from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1920 in Émile Boirac's La Psychologie inconnue, a work on psychical research.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Rey defines it as describing phenomena that seem close to normality but go beyond it.^[6] The TLFi records it in psychology for what lies on the margin of the normal, as in Mounier's constitution paranormale (1946), and as a noun, le paranormal, for the character of what is not fully normal.^[2] Current dictionaries define it as what cannot be explained by normal laws and mechanisms, and le paranormal as the field of such phenomena.^[4][7][5] The DHLF lists it beside supranormal (1906).^[6]

Timeline

• 1920 – Boirac uses paranormal.^[2][6]
• 1946 – Mounier writes of a constitution paranormale.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. paranormal: not explicable by the normal laws of nature: une expérience paranormale.^[4][7][5]
2. (psychology) On the margin of the normal, not quite normal.^[2]

Noun

1. le paranormal: the paranormal, the set of phenomena that science cannot explain.^[5][2]

Related words

• normal
• anormal
• supranormal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)