Word.ws English Dictionary

paratext

paratext noun: in literary theory, meanings that are alluded to, above or beyond the printed text; interpretations of text.

Noun

paratext (countable and uncountable, plural paratexts)

  1. (literary) In literary theory, meanings that are alluded to, above or beyond the printed text; interpretations of text.
  2. All of the notes and explanations that make a text more understandable.

Forms of paratext

pluralparatexts

Origin of paratext

From para- + text.

Words formed from paratext

Questions about paratext

What does paratext mean?
Paratext means in literary theory, meanings that are alluded to, above or beyond the printed text; interpretations of text.
What part of speech is paratext?
Paratext is a noun.
What is the plural of paratext?
The plural of paratext is paratexts.

Words near paratext in the dictionary

  1. paraterminal
  2. paraterraform
  3. paraterraformation
  4. paraterraforming
  5. paratesticular
  6. paratext
  7. paratexts
  8. paratextual
  9. paratextualities
  10. paratextuality
  11. paratextually

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paratext (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “paratext.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paratext. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.