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Glite Dictionary
paracosm

paracosm

1 9.9
An imaginary world invented by a child with maps, language, and stories
  • noun
  • /ˈpærəˌkɑzəm/
  • Specialized
: paracosmos
  • The group of friends spent countless hours developing their paracosm, complete with its own map and language.

Examples

  • I read many cases, missing children, children with extreme paracosm attachments who caused them to detach from their families and leave home, just like Luis.

    Imaginary (2024)

  • This reminded me of another paracosm case.

    Imaginary (2024)

  • Creating an imaginary friend, or what we call a paracosm is her way of finding stability.

    Imaginary (2024)

  • As a child, she created a vibrant paracosm where fairies and dragons lived in harmony.

  • In his paracosm, time flowed differently, allowing him to have adventures that felt like a lifetime.

Synonyms

fantasy world
vsparacosm
31 4.4

An imagined place in your mind with magic and strange creatures

focuses on a richly detailed world built over a long time by children
fantasyland
vsparacosm
3 6.1

An imaginary place where everything is perfect and magical

emphasizes a long developed detailed world created over time by children

Surface Forms

paracosm singular
paracosms plural

Morphology

paracosm = cosmos (semi-transparent) = para + cosmos

The word is built from 'para-' plus 'cosmos' ('world'), so the structure is interpretable, but the specialized sense of a child-created imaginary world is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The word paracosm comes from Greek parts para- meaning 'beside' and cosmos meaning 'world' or 'order'. So a paracosm is a 'world beside' the real one — an invented, imaginary world a child might build with maps and stories.