The Greek prefix
"para" appears to mean
"beyond" and
not "parallel" which is the sense often used in English. The ancient Greek word
"παρά" ≈ "beyond", although some prefer the meaning of "
beside" because of the influence of Euclid's definition of a parallel line as a line
"beyond" another line in a plane such that the lines never touch.
From Euclid, a parallel line is a line just like another line in a plane, not that line, that is
"beyond" that line (from either direction) and never touches that line.
Some Greek words that make better sense using
"beyond" rather than "
parallel" include "
parable" and "
paradox".