paar

English

Noun

paar (plural paars)

1. (geology) A hypothesized shifting of four geologic blocks: northeast Africa west of Red Sea and north of the Ethiopian valley, the Arabian Peninsula, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Horn of Africa east of the rift valleys, which is used to explain the structural features of the area.
   • 1976, AAPG Bulletin, volume 60, numbers 1-6, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, page 410:

     By the end of early Eocene time a paar developed between Africa and Arabia which caused tensional forces in the southern Red Sea area (Swartz and Arden, 1960).

References

• Christopher Morris (1992) Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Etymology 1

From Dutch paar.

Noun

paar (plural pare)

1. pair

Etymology 2

From Dutch paren.

Verb

paar (present paar, present participle parende, past participle gepaar)

1. to pair, to couple

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paːr/
• Rhymes: -aːr

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch paer, from Latin par.

Noun

paar n (plural paren, diminutive paartje n)

1. pair, couple
2. a few, a couple, some

   Hier hebben ze een paar van die batterijen.

   They have some of those batteries here.

Derived terms

• paarvorming

Descendants

• Negerhollands: paer, paar
  • →? Virgin Islands Creole: pa (dated, possibly from Spanish)
• → Caribbean Javanese: par
• → Sranan Tongo: par
  • → Saramaccan: páa

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

paar

1. inflection of paren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Anagrams

• raap

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:

paar

Wikipedia ^et

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pˈɑːr/

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle Low German pâr, from Latin pār.

Noun

paar (genitive paari, partitive paari)

1. pair (two similar or identical things taken together)
2. couple (two partners)

Declension

Derived terms

• abielupaar

Pronoun

paar (genitive paari, partitive paari)

1. a couple (of) (two or a few)

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Russian пар (par, “steam, vapour”).

Noun

paar (genitive paaru, partitive paaru)

1. (colloquial) speed (especially of a motor vehicle)

Declension

Further reading

• “paar”, in Eesti keele põhisõnavara sõnastik [Dictionary of Estonian Basic Vocabulary] (in Estonian) (online version, not updated), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2014
• “paar”, in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “paar”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• paar in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paːr/, , ,

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːɐ̯, -aː

Etymology 1

From Paar (“pair, couple”).

Determiner

paar (invariable)

1. some; few; a few

Usage notes

• This determiner can be preceded by a definite article and some other determiners: Die paar Tage sind ja schnell vorbei. (“These few days will be over soon.”) Otherwise, in standard German, paar always takes the undeclined numeral ein in front of it: Nach ein paar Tagen ist das vorbei. (“After a few days it will be over.”) In colloquial German the numeral may be left out.
• Although literally meaning “pair, couple”, the word does not commonly refer to two items, but rather to sets from three upward. The upper limit is dependent both on absolute number and percentage: 10 out of 20 may be ein paar, as may 50 out of 1,000; whereas 50 out of 100 are unlikely to be so identified.

Derived terms

• paarmal

Related terms

• Paar

Etymology 2

Adjective

paar (not comparable)

1. Obsolete form of bar (“bare; cash”).

Declension

Further reading

• “paar” in Duden online
• “paar” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “paar” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Latvian

Verb

paar

1. inflection of paart:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person plural present indicative
   3. second-person singular imperative
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of paart
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of paart