Paregy

lulu · 10-13-2005, 05:40 PM

Lookie here, Mr. Webster! Another word just for my ex-husband!!!

Parergy (Noun)
http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/goldband.gif
http://www.yourdictionary.com/images/x.gif
Pronunciation: [pê-'rer-jee or 'pæ-rê-jee]
Definition 1: Something unimportant, incidental or superfluous.
Usage 1: An obsolete word, perhaps, but one that deserves to be brought back into the English lexical fold, especially since so many of us practice parergies (the plural form), like surfing the Web at work. Related to "parergon" [pa-'rer-gan] a subordinate accessory to the main subject in a work of art; hence, an ornamental accessory or embellishment, or a second, incidental job.
Suggested usage: We hope you don't feel that you are a parergy where you work but we have heard that some people feel that way. If so, however, you might consider a parergon where you are taken more seriously, "Quinn's tomahawk-throwing at the county fairs is a parergon to his job as a tax attorney."
Etymology: From the Greek parergon "by-work, secondary business" from parergos, "incidental, subordinate, incidental," itself based on para "beside" + ergon "work." "Para" shares a source with Russian prefix pere- "over, across," English "for," Latin per "through, by." "Parergy" and "parergon" are not directly related to paragon "model of perfection," which comes from the Greek parakonan "to sharpen" from para "beside" + akon "whetstone." (Thanks, Patricia Tancred, for today's nonetheless intriguing lexical parergon.)

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com