I. ˈparəˌfrāz also ˈper- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin paraphrasis, from Greek, from paraphrazein to paraphrase (from para- para- (I) + phrazein to point out, show, tell) + -sis
1.
a. : a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form usually for clearer and fuller exposition : a free rendering
a paraphrase of eternal vigilance is the price of freedom — O.W.Holmes †1935
plays which are not paraphrases from the Greek — John Buchan
— opposed to metaphrase
b. : the use or process of paraphrasing in studying or teaching composition
such subjects as précis, paraphrase , punctuation — English Language Teaching
paraphrase , which aims rather at recapturing the general impression of a foreign work — Times LiterarySupplement
2. : a free or florid musical transcription
a paraphrase of an ancient Gregorian Dies Irae — Time
3. : an exemplification or an amplification of a theme, idea, or motive
4. : any of the verses based on passages of Scripture and commonly printed along with the metrical version of the Psalms used in Scottish Presbyterian churches
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: French paraphraser, from Middle French, from paraphrase, n.
transitive verb
: to express, interpret, or translate with latitude : give the meaning of (a work or passage) in other words : make a paraphrase of
paraphrases Descartes' famous sentence — Babette Deutsch
paraphrased some of the telegrams — Sir Winston Churchill
stories will have to be paraphrased by Mother — My Baby
work of paraphrasing the obscure into the … comprehensible — S.E.Hyman
intransitive verb
1. : to make a paraphrase
2. archaic : to comment or expand upon a topic