Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Paradise?

\Par"a*dise\, n. [OE. & F. paradis, L. paradisus, fr. Gr. para`deisos park, paradise, fr. Zend pairida[=e]za an inclosure; pairi around (akin to Gr. ?) + diz to throw up, pile up; cf. Skr. dih to smear, and E. dough. Cf. {Parvis}.] 1. The garden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve were placed after their creation. 2. The abode of sanctified souls after death. To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise. --Luke xxiii. 43. It sounds to him like her mother's voice, Singing in Paradise. --Longfellow. 3. A place of bliss; a region of supreme felicity or delight; hence, a state of happiness. The earth Shall be all paradise. --Milton. Wrapt in the very paradise of some creative vision. --Beaconsfield. 4. (Arch.) An open space within a monastery or adjoining a church, as the space within a cloister, the open court before a basilica, etc. 5. A churchyard or cemetery. [Obs.] --Oxf. Gloss. {Fool's paradise}. See under {Fool}, and {Limbo}. {Grains of paradise}. (Bot.) See {Melequeta pepper}, under {Pepper}. {Paradise bird}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Bird of paradise}. Among the most beautiful species are the superb ({Lophorina superba}); the magnificent ({Diphyllodes magnifica}); and the six-shafted paradise bird ({Parotia sefilata}). The long-billed paradise birds ({Epimachin[ae]}) also include some highly ornamental species, as the twelve-wired paradise bird ({Seleucides alba}), which is black, yellow, and white, with six long breast feathers on each side, ending in long, slender filaments. See {Bird of paradise} in the Vocabulary. {Paradise fish} (Zo["o]l.), a beautiful fresh-water Asiatic fish ({Macropodus viridiauratus}) having very large fins. It is often kept alive as an ornamental fish. {Paradise flycatcher} (Zo["o]l.), any flycatcher of the genus {Terpsiphone}, having the middle tail feathers extremely elongated. The adult male of {T. paradisi} is white, with the head glossy dark green, and crested. {Paradise grackle} (Zo["o]l.), a very beautiful bird of New Guinea, of the genus {Astrapia}, having dark velvety plumage with brilliant metallic tints. {Paradise nut} (Bot.), the sapucaia nut. See {Sapucaia nut}. [Local, U. S.] {Paradise whidah bird}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Whidah}.
\Par"a*dise\, v. t. To affect or exalt with visions of felicity; to entrance; to bewitch. [R.] --Marston.