Paradise

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpæɹ.ə.daɪs/

Definitions

1. A place of perfect happiness and peace, or in religious contexts, the garden of Eden or heaven where the blessed reside after death
2. A setting or condition characterized by complete bliss and tranquility ; a sacred or divine place often identified as a heavenly garden or the afterlife residence of souls
3. An environment or situation that embodies ultimate happiness and contentment ; a spiritual or mythological location recognized as paradise or the garden of original innocence

Etymology: The Greek word "parádeisos" originally meant a walled park or enclosed garden, and it came into Greek from Old Persian, where the root meant something like "enclosure" or "walled space." The Persian kings and nobles kept such enclosures stocked with trees and game, which is why the word first carried the sense of a cultivated pleasure ground rather than any heavenly place. The Greek word passed into Latin as "paradīsus," and then into Old French as "paradis." English borrowed it in Late Old English, so for centuries it referred mainly to the Garden of Eden, the enclosed garden of Genesis, as the Septuagint translators had already used "parádeisos" for it. Over time the biblical sense merged with a general notion of a perfect, happy place. The word's doublet "parvis," which entered English from French, shows the same root. It came to mean the open space in front of a church, a use that preserves the older idea of an enclosed or bounded area. "Paradise" itself, though, moved away from enclosure entirely and became a byword for bliss.

Synonyms: heaven, utopia, bliss, nirvana, Eden

Antonyms: hell, misery, suffering, despair, wretchedness