Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

paralegal

/ˌpɛɹəˈliɡ(ə)l/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.75 in modern English

Syllables
par-a-le-gal
IPA
/ˌpɛɹəˈliɡ(ə)l/
12
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

One who assists a lawyer in routine legal work, but who is without qualified status as a solicitor or barrister (England and Wales), attorney (U.S.), or advocate; known more commonly in the U.S. as a legal assistant.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Hellenic *pərai Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ́ (părắ) Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ- (pără-)der. English para- Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *lḗǵs? Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *lḗgʰs? Proto-Italic *lēks Latin lex Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin lēgālislbor. English legal English paralegal From para- + legal.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌpɛɹəˈliɡ(ə)l/
  • British English: /ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩/

Inflected Forms

paralegals (plural)

Synonyms

legal assistant

Rhymes With

legal illegal eagle regal siegel beagle spiegel segal steagall segel riegel extralegal

Questions

How do you pronounce paralegal?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌpɛɹəˈliɡ(ə)l/.
What does paralegal mean?
One who assists a lawyer in routine legal work, but who is without qualified status as a solicitor or barrister (England and Wales), attorney (U.S.), or advocate; known more commonly in the U.S. as a legal assistant.
Where does paralegal come from?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Hellenic *pərai Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ́ (părắ) Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ- (pără-)der. English para- Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *lḗǵs? Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *lḗgʰs? Proto-Italic *lēks Latin lex Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin lēgālislbor. English legal English paralegal From para- + legal.

How to pronounce paralegal

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “paralegal”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌpɛɹəˈliɡ(ə)l/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “paralegal”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “paralegal” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.