Dictionary.com
definitions

paradise

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz]
See more synonyms for paradise on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.
  2. an intermediate place for the departed souls of the righteous awaiting resurrection.
  3. (often initial capital letter) Eden1(def 1).
  4. a place of extreme beauty, delight, or happiness.
  5. a state of supreme happiness; bliss.
  6. Architecture.
    1. parvis.
    2. an enclosure beside a church, as an atrium or cloister.
  7. (initial capital letter, italics) Italian Pa·ra·di·so [pah-rah-dee-zaw] /ˌpɑ rɑˈdi zɔ/. the third and concluding part of Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting heaven, through which he is guided by Beatrice.Compare inferno(def 3), purgatory(def 2).

Origin of paradise

before 1000; Middle English, Old English paradīs < Late Latin paradīsus < Greek parádeisos park, pleasure-grounds < Iranian; compare Avestan pairi-daēza enclosure

Paradise

[par-uh-dahys, -dahyz]
noun
  1. a town in N California.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for paradise

utopia, heaven, bliss, wonderland, Eden, delight, felicity, Shangri-la, Arcadia, Zion, ballpark

Examples from the Web for paradise

Contemporary Examples of paradise

Historical Examples of paradise

  • It caused them to fight for the sole possession of this Paradise upon Earth.

    Ancient Man

    Hendrik Willem van Loon

  • Such ideas as Paradise, Adam and Eve, and angels, are getting obsolete.

  • What a paradise this would be for the botanist in spring, or for the portrait painter!

    The Roof of France

    Matilda Betham-Edwards

  • This farm was the nearest he would ever come to a paradise and on it he would be his own God.

    Dust

    Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

  • "I modestly but freely told him what I thought" of Paradise Lost!

British Dictionary definitions for paradise

paradise

noun
  1. heaven as the ultimate abode or state of the righteous
  2. Islam the sensual garden of delights that the Koran promises the faithful after death
  3. Also called: limbo (according to some theologians) the intermediate abode or state of the just prior to the Resurrection of Jesus, as in Luke 23:43
  4. the place or state of happiness enjoyed by Adam before the first sin; the Garden of Eden
  5. any place or condition that fulfils all one's desires or aspirations
  6. a park in which foreign animals are kept

Word Origin for paradise

Old English, from Church Latin paradīsus, from Greek paradeisos garden, of Persian origin; compare Avestan pairidaēza enclosed area, from pairi- around + daēza wall
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for paradise
n.

late 12c., "Garden of Eden," from Old French paradis "paradise, Garden of Eden" (11c.), from Late Latin paradisus, from Greek paradeisos "park, paradise, Garden of Eden," from an Iranian source, cf. Avestan pairidaeza "enclosure, park" (Modern Persian and Arabic firdaus "garden, paradise"), compound of pairi- "around" + diz "to make, form (a wall)."

The first element is cognate with Greek peri- "around, about" (see per), the second is from PIE root *dheigh- "to form, build" (see dough).

The Greek word, originally used for an orchard or hunting park in Persia, was used in Septuagint to mean "Garden of Eden," and in New Testament translations of Luke xxiii:43 to mean "heaven" (a sense attested in English from c.1200). Meaning "place like or compared to Paradise" is from c.1300.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
paradise in Culture

paradise

A place or state of pure happiness. Christians (see also Christian) have identified paradise both with the Garden of Eden and with heaven.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with paradise

paradise

see fool's paradise.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.