parergon
US/pæˈrɝ.ɡɑn/
parergon noun: a piece of work that is supplementary to or a byproduct of a larger work.
Noun
parergon (plural parergons or parerga)
- A piece of work that is supplementary to or a byproduct of a larger work.
- […] the running and control of double agents is a[n] […] infinitely complicated task. It could not be done as a parergon by any intelligence department elsewhere […]1945, J.C. Masterman, The Double-Cross System
Forms of parergon
| plural | parergons |
|---|---|
| plural | parerga |
Origin of parergon
From Ancient Greek πάρεργον (párergon, “subordinate or secondary business; by-work”), neuter of πάρεργος (párergos, “beside the main subject, subordinate, incidental”).
Words formed from parergon
Questions about parergon
- What does parergon mean?
- Parergon means a piece of work that is supplementary to or a byproduct of a larger work.
- What part of speech is parergon?
- Parergon is a noun.
- How do you pronounce parergon?
- Parergon is pronounced /pæˈrɝ.ɡɑn/ (US).
- What is the plural of parergon?
- The plural of parergon is parergons.
Words near parergon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: parergon (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “parergon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/parergon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.