Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - para

 I. noun  (plural ~s or ~)  Etymology: Turkish, from Persian para, literally, piece, scrap  Date: 1687  1.  a. any of several monetary units of the Turkish Empire  b. a coin representing one ~  2. Serbian & Croatian, from Turkish a former Yugoslav monetary unit equal to 1/100 dinar  II. abbreviation ~graph PARA  geographical name  1. river 200 miles (322 kilometers) N Brazil, the E mouth of the Amazon  2. state N Brazil S of the Amazon capital Belem area 481,869 square miles (1,248,041 square kilometers), population 5,084,726  3. — see belem PARA  noun combining form  (plural ~s or ~e)  Etymology: Latin, from parere to give birth to — more at pare woman delivered of (so many) children primipara