paranormal

English

Etymology

From para- (“beyond”) +‎ normal; compare supernatural. First use appears c. 1905.

Adjective

paranormal (comparative more paranormal, superlative most paranormal)

1. Of events, experiences, or phenomena, that cannot be explained by current scientific understanding or natural laws.

   Coordinate terms: supernatural, parapsychological

   • 2013, JoAnn Myers, Wicked Intentions‎^[1]:

     “We who study the paranormal always hope for strong readings with our equipment,” explains Nancy.

Derived terms

• nonparanormal
• paranormalism
• paranormalist
• paranormality
• paranormally
• paranormalness
• paranormal romance
• purranormal

Translations

that cannot be explained by scientific methods

• Arabic: خارق للطبيعَة
• Catalan: paranormal
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 超常的

• Czech: paranormální
• Danish: paranormal
• Finnish: paranormaali (fi), yliluonnollinen (fi)
• French: ^{(please verify)} paranormal (fr)
• Galician: paranormal
• Georgian: პარანორმალური (ṗaranormaluri)
• Greek: παραφυσικός (el) (parafysikós), αφύσικος (el) (afýsikos), υπερφυσικός (el) (yperfysikós)
• Hungarian: paranormális (hu)
• Irish: paranormálta
• Italian: paranormale
• Māori: whaiwhaiā
• Polish: paranormalny
• Portuguese: paranormal (pt)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} paranormal (ro)
• Russian: паранормальный (ru) (paranormalʹnyj)
• Spanish: paranormal (es)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} paranormal (sv)
• Vietnamese: siêu tâm linh, huyền bí (vi)

Noun

paranormal (plural paranormals)

1. (with the) Paranormal phenomena collectively: all things paranormal; things with paranormality.

   Our next guest has spent a 40-year career studying the paranormal, and he has some thoughts he wants to share with our audience tonight.

2. A person to whom paranormal powers are attributed.

See also

• parapsychology
• supernatural (noun)

Catalan

Etymology

From para- +‎ normal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ˌpa.ɾə.nurˈmal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˌpa.ɾə.norˈmal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˌpa.ɾa.noɾˈmal]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˌpa.ɾa.norˈmal]

Adjective

paranormal m or f (masculine and feminine plural paranormals)

1. paranormal

Further reading

• “paranormal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “paranormal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “paranormal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

French

Etymology

From para- +‎ normal.

Adjective

paranormal (feminine paranormale, masculine plural paranormaux, feminine plural paranormales)

1. paranormal

Further reading

• “paranormal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpaʁanɔʁˈmaːl/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

paranormal (strong nominative masculine singular paranormaler, not comparable)

1. paranormal

Declension

Positive forms of paranormal (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist paranormal	sie ist paranormal	es ist paranormal	sie sind paranormal
strong declension (without article)	nominative	paranormaler	paranormale	paranormales	paranormale
	genitive	paranormalen	paranormaler	paranormalen	paranormaler
	dative	paranormalem	paranormaler	paranormalem	paranormalen
	accusative	paranormalen	paranormale	paranormales	paranormale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der paranormale	die paranormale	das paranormale	die paranormalen
	genitive	des paranormalen	der paranormalen	des paranormalen	der paranormalen
	dative	dem paranormalen	der paranormalen	dem paranormalen	den paranormalen
	accusative	den paranormalen	die paranormale	das paranormale	die paranormalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein paranormaler	eine paranormale	ein paranormales	(keine) paranormalen
	genitive	eines paranormalen	einer paranormalen	eines paranormalen	(keiner) paranormalen
	dative	einem paranormalen	einer paranormalen	einem paranormalen	(keinen) paranormalen
	accusative	einen paranormalen	eine paranormale	ein paranormales	(keine) paranormalen

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-

Proto-Hellenic *pərai

Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)

Ancient Greek παρα- (para-)lbor.

Portuguese para-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱétider.

Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō

Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ

Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn)

Ancient Greek γνώμων (gnṓmōn)bor.

Etruscanbor.?

Latin norma

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin normālislbor.

Portuguese normal

Portuguese paranormal

From para- + normal.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pa.ɾa.noʁˈmaw/ [pa.ɾa.noɦˈmaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pa.ɾa.noʁˈmaw/ [pa.ɾa.noɦˈmaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /pa.ɾa.noɾˈmaw/ [pa.ɾa.noɾˈmaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /pa.ɾa.noʁˈmaw/ [pa.ɾa.noʁˈmaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /pa.ɾa.noɻˈmaw/ [pa.ɾa.noɻˈmaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɾɐ.nɔɾˈmal/ [pɐ.ɾɐ.nɔɾˈmaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɾɐ.nɔɾˈmal/ [pɐ.ɾɐ.nɔɾˈmaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɾɐ.nɔɾˈma.li/

Adjective

paranormal m or f (plural paranormais)

1. paranormal

Derived terms

• paranormalmente

Further reading

• “paranormal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “paranormal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-

Proto-Hellenic *pərai

Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)

Ancient Greek παρα- (para-)lbor.

French para-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱétider.

Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō

Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ

Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn)

Ancient Greek γνώμων (gnṓmōn)bor.

Etruscanbor.?

Latin norma

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin nōrmālislbor.

French normal

French paranormalbor.

Romanian paranormal

Borrowed from French paranormal. By surface analysis, para- + normal.

Adjective

paranormal m or n (feminine singular paranormală, masculine plural paranormali, feminine/neuter plural paranormale)

1. paranormal

Declension

Declension of paranormal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	paranormal		paranormală	paranormali	paranormale
	definite	paranormalul		paranormala	paranormalii	paranormalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	paranormal		paranormale	paranormali	paranormale
	definite	paranormalului		paranormalei	paranormalilor	paranormalelor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-

Proto-Hellenic *pərai

Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)

Ancient Greek παρα- (para-)lbor.

Spanish para-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱétider.

Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō

Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ

Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn)

Ancient Greek γνώμων (gnṓmōn)bor.

Etruscanbor.?

Latin norma

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin nōrmālis

Spanish normal

Spanish paranormal

From para- + normal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paɾanoɾˈmal/ [pa.ɾa.noɾˈmal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pa‧ra‧nor‧mal

Adjective

paranormal m or f (masculine and feminine plural paranormales)

1. paranormal

Further reading

• “paranormal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Adjective

paranormal (not comparable)

1. paranormal

Declension

Inflection of paranormal

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	paranormal	—	—
neuter singular	paranormalt	—	—
plural	paranormala	—	—
masculine plural2	paranormale	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	paranormale	—	—
all	paranormala	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Further reading

• “paranormal”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)