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• par
  par

  noun
• par-
  par-

  variant of para- before a vowel.
• par.
  par.

  abbreviation

  paragraph.
• Par.
  Par.

  abbreviation

  Paraguay

par

¹ American  

[pahr] / pɑr /

noun

pars plural

1. Finance.

   1. the legally established value of the monetary unit of one country in terms of that of another using the same metal as a standard of value.

   2. the state of the shares of any business, undertaking, loan, etc., when they may be purchased at the original price issue par or at their face value nominal par.

2. an equality in value or standing; a level of equality.

   The gains and the losses are on a par.

3. an average, usual, or normal amount, degree, quality, condition, standard, or the like.

   above par;

   to feel below par.

4. Golf. the number of strokes set as a standard for a specific hole or a complete course.

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adjective

1. average or normal.

2. Finance. at or pertaining to par.

   the par value of a bond.

verb (used with object)

parred, parring

1. Golf. to equal par on (a hole or course).

idioms

1. at par, (of a share) purchasable at issue par or nominal par.

2. par for the course, exactly what one might expect; predictable; typical.

   They were late again, but that's par for the course.

par ² American  

[pahr] / pɑr /

adjective

Insurance.

1. of or relating to participating insurance.

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par- ³ American  

1. variant of para- before a vowel.

   parenchyma.

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par. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. paragraph.

2. parallel.

3. parenthesis.

4. parish.

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par ¹ British  

/ pɑː /

noun

1. an accepted level or standard, such as an average (esp in the phrase up to par )

2. a state of equality (esp in the phrase on a par with )

3. finance the established value of the unit of one national currency in terms of the unit of another where both are based on the same metal standard

4. commerce

   1. See par value

   2. the condition of equality between the current market value of a share, bond, etc, and its face value (the nominal par ). This equality is indicated by at par, while above ( or below ) par indicates that the market value is above (or below) face value

5. golf an estimated standard score for a hole or course that a good player should make

   par for the course was 72

6. not feeling or performing as well as normal

7. an expected or normal occurrence or situation

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adjective

1. average or normal

2. (usually prenominal) commerce of or relating to par

   par value

par. ² British  

abbreviation

1. paragraph

2. parenthesis

3. parish

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Par. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Paraguay

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par- ⁴ British  

prefix

1. a variant of para- 1

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par More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing par

• below par
• on a par with
• up to par

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of par¹

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin pār “matching, equal”

Origin of par²

Shortening of participating

Explanation

In golf, par is the average number of times an excellent player needs to hit the ball, either for one particular hole or for the entire course. You might describe the fourth hole, for example, as being par five. If a golf course is par sixteen, it takes a really good golfer about sixteen strokes to get her ball into the final hole. From the sports meaning of par, it's come to also mean "average" or "equivalent," especially in phrases like "under par," or "worse than expected," and "par for the course," or "what is normal given the circumstances." This definition actually came first, in the form of the Latin par, "equal."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

par par- par. Par. pars parred parring

A new report from Navigator Research found that over 80% of Black and Latino Americans say being American is central to their identity, a figure that is on par with white Americans.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

Muse Spark is now almost on par with top AI coding models “but at 25% of the price,” he added, which would make it an attractive option for the mass market.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

Tickets for her event are $150 and a spot in the “7 Paintings” dining room runs $175, priced on par with a number of city’s most acclaimed restaurants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

On a true pitch surrounded by short boundaries, the target looked around par, before Archer and Tongue ensured India would not get close.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

To get up to par with the other girls.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

But when par- or blind-baking, not every type of crust needs to be docked.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022

Docking can be called for in recipes where par- or blind-baking the crust is required.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022

We need to par- ticipate, and we need to be heard.

From MSNBC ● Sep. 9, 2014

But if the individual par- ticipants in the  boom went unnoticed, their impact  did not.

From MSNBC ● Jun. 4, 2014

It must be true because Uncle Herman use to sleep in our house all the time when he was out of werk on the old sofa in the par- ler.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

“Firstly, we bowled and fielded well. We thought they were par. … De Leede’s innings was awesome, just needed someone to be with him.”

From Washington Times ● Oct. 6, 2023

“You still had guys shooting way over par. I think that just shows how good of a course this is, how it rewards good golf and bad golf still gets penalized.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2023

Billy Horschel was the only player in the 39-man field who failed to break par. shooting 76.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2023

"When an enemy starts to act irrationally, you need to make sure the defences of your own country are up to par. In the Canadian Arctic, that's a problem - we haven't done enough."

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2022

Cestrensis=Of Chester. cet. par., ceteris paribus=Other things being equal. cf., confer=Compare; Calf. c. f. & i.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

This Count Guido Vecchio took to wife the daughter of M. Bellincione Berti of the Rovignani, which was the Par. xv.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

And after him, in the month of September following, Cardinal Piero Spagnuolo was elected Pope, which was called Pope John Par. xii.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

And for consolation of the Christian pilgrims, every Friday and every solemn feast day, was shown in S. Peter's the Veronica, the true image of Par. xxxi. 104-108.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

The city was taken by the Romans, and despoiled of all its wealth, and Par. vi.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

And still in the time of the said Pope, after the same manner began the Order of the Preaching Friars, the founder whereof was the blessed Par. xi. 118-123; xii. 46-105.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

"He was making a lot of pars and then obviously at the end Kurt did what he did and Adam posted and I started to make a couple birdies," McIlroy said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

He had three birdies and six pars on the back nine for a 68 in the second round to get to even par and was among 51 in the 72-player field to make the cut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

Nine pars followed though before he finished bogey-double bogey.

From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2025

Volatility matters too—because of the format, a player who birdies half the holes and bogeys the other half can be more valuable than someone who cards 18 pars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2025

Watch a baby just as he or she starts to cry, and you’ll often see the frontalis, pars medialis shoot up as if it were on a string.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Making his tournament debut, Bridgeman carded four birdies on the back nine, the last at No. 17, to pull even with McIlroy at five under and parred the 18th.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

When play resumed, Korda had a three-stroke lead over South Korea's Amy Yang, who parred 17 and 18 on Sunday to seize second on 206 with a closing 69.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

DeChambeau, who started the day two back, parred the first hole to forge the tie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2025

He briefly led the tournament after DeChambeau bogeyed the fourth and, despite dropping a shot on the 11th, he parred his way home to set the target.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2024

Compare the past participles osed, 971, mixed, 2533, parred, 2439, gadred, 2577; reft, 1367, wend, 2138, hyd, 1059; told, 1036, sold, 1638, wrouth = wrout, 1352.

From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown

Kuchar and Villegas each shot 66, with the 45-year-old Kuchar parring the final four holes.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2023

He had a solid start Sunday, parring the first and third holes, both par-fours, while birdieing the par-five second hole to move to six under for the tournament.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2022

“If you spare a lot, it’s like parring all the holes,” said Straub, summoning another golf analogy.

From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2017

He hit every fairway after that, picking up that crucial birdie at No. 14 and parring his way home.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 18, 2014

I ended up birdieing 14, parring 15, hit a bad drive on 16 and made another bogey, then parred in.

From Golf Digest ● Jun. 9, 2014