Paradise
noun /ˈpærədaɪs/ — A place or state of perfect happiness — the garden at the beginning, and the longing at the end.
Definition
A place or state of perfect happiness and delight; heaven as the eternal home of the righteous dead; in some contexts, the garden of Eden; any place of ideal beauty or happiness.
Beyond the definition
Paradise is one of the most traveled words in history — Persian to Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English, and at every stop, it gathered more meaning. The Persian original was a walled garden; the Hebrew was Eden; the Greek was the afterlife. The word now holds all of them: enclosure, perfection, loss.
Origin & history
From Old Persian pairidaeza — walled enclosure, garden (pairi: around + daeza: wall). The walled garden — paradise is enclosed. Its perfection requires a boundary; without the wall, it's just a field.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The island was paradise enough — for a week.
She'd spent years chasing paradise before realizing that paradise requires presence, not pursuit.
Paradise lost is a more interesting story than paradise found; it's where literature begins.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Paradise” when the meaning fits your context: A place or state of perfect happiness and delight; heaven as the eternal home of the righteous dead; in some contexts, the garden of Eden; any place of ideal beauty or happiness.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Vibrant, teeming woodland scene
A vibrant woodland scene where sunlight filters onto a forest floor covered in diverse plants, teeming with life.
The lush, interconnected natural beauty of the woodland illustrates a place of ideal beauty and happiness, representing a paradise of natural life.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Paradise" mean?
Paradise is noun meaning: A place or state of perfect happiness — the garden at the beginning, and the longing at the end.. A place or state of perfect happiness and delight; heaven as the eternal home of the righteous dead; in some contexts, the garden of Eden; any place of ideal beauty or happiness.
Where does the word "Paradise" come from?
From Old Persian pairidaeza — walled enclosure, garden (pairi: around + daeza: wall). The walled garden — paradise is enclosed. Its perfection requires a boundary; without the wall, it's just a field.