Standard Lemma guide

parapsychology

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada: /ˌpɛɹəˌsaɪˈkɑlədʒi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The study of alleged paranormal phenomena; psychic or occult phenomena, such as telepathy and ghosts.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

phenomena that appear to contradict physical laws and suggest the possibility of causation by mental processes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: psychic phenomena, psychic phenomenon

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: psychic communication, psychical communication, anomalous communication

Narrower terms: clairvoyance, second sight, extrasensory perception, E.S.P., ESP, telekinesis, psychokinesis, table rapping, table tapping, spirit rapping, table tipping, table tilting, table turning, table lifting

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh2- Proto-Hellenic *pərai Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ́ (părắ) Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ- (pără-)der. English para- English psychology English parapsychology From para- (“above, beyond; abnormal”) + psychology.

Across languages

Translations

45 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: parapsikologjia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Basque: parapsikologia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Belarusian: парапсіхалогія (parapsixalóhija) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Catalan: parapsicologia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Chinese Mandarin: 超心理學 /超心理学 (chāoxīnlǐxué) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Chinese Mandarin: 心靈學 /心灵学 (xīnlíngxué) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Chinese Mandarin: 靈學 /灵学 (língxué) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Chinese Mandarin: 通靈學 /通灵学 (tōnglíngxué) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Czech: parapsychologie — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Danish: parapsykologi — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Dutch: parapsychologie — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Esperanto: parapsiĥologio — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Esperanto: parapsikologio — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Estonian: parapsühholoogia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Finnish: parapsykologia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • French: parapsychologie — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • German: Parapsychologie — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Greek: παραψυχολογία (parapsychología) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Hindi: परामनोविज्ञान (parāmnovijñān) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Hungarian: parapszichológia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Icelandic: parasálfræði — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Indonesian: parapsikologi — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Italian: parapsicologia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Italian: metapsichica — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Japanese: 超心理学 (chōshinrigaku) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Khmer: អធិចិត្តវិទ្យា (ak thi chit vi tyea) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Korean: 초심리학 (chosimnihak) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Latvian: parapsiholoģija — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Lithuanian: parapsichologija — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Macedonian: парапсихологија (parapsihologija) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Norwegian: parapsykologi — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Polish: parapsychologia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Portuguese: parapsicologia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Portuguese: pesquisa psi — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Romanian: parapsihologie — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Russian: парапсихоло́гия (parapsixológija) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Serbo-Croatian: парапсихологија — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Serbo-Croatian: parapsihologija — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Slovak: parapsychológia — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Spanish: parapsicología — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Swedish: parapsykologi — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Turkish: parapsikoloji — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Ukrainian: парапсихологія (parapsyxolohija) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Welsh: paraseicoleg — the study of that which cannot yet be explained
  • Yiddish: פּאַראַפּסיכאָלאָגיע (parapsikhologye) — the study of that which cannot yet be explained