Definition of "para-" []

• Beside; near; alongside: parathyroid. (prefix)
• Beyond: paranormal. (prefix)
• Incorrect; abnormal: paresthesia. (prefix)
• Similar to; resembling: paratyphoid fever. (prefix)
• Subsidiary; assistant: paraprofessional. (prefix)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It prizes performers and bands that do a lot of avoiding themselves: obscure or reclusive or misunderstood or intransigent or semi-extant, forerunners and satellites and outsiders, the post- and pre- and para-."