From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishparapar‧a1 /ˈpærə/ noun [countable] British English informal x-refa paratrooperparapara2 (also par) TCNthe written abbreviation of paragraphpara-para- /pærə/ prefix 1 UNUSUALbeyond the paranormal (=strange unnatural events, beyond normal experience)2 LIKE/SIMILARvery similar to something terrorists wearing paramilitary uniforms3 SEBOrelating to a profession and helping more highly trained people a paramedic (=someone who helps a doctor) a paralegal (=someone who helps a lawyer)4 relating to parachutes a paratrooper paragliding
Examples from the Corpus
para-• a paramilitary groupFrom Longman Business Dictionaryparapara written abbreviation for PARAGRAPHOrigin para- 1. Latin Greek, from para “beside”2. (1900-2000) parachute para1 (1900-2000) paratrooper 