paracosm

From Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside, alongside”) + κόσμος (kósmos, “world, universe”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpæɹ.əˈkɑz.əm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (Mary–marry–merry merger)

paracosm (plural paracosms)

1. A detailed imaginary world, especially one created by a child.
   • 2005, Delmont C. Morrison & Shirley Linden Morrison, Memories of Loss and Dreams of Perfection: Unsuccessful Childhood Grieving and Adult Creativity, Baywood Publishing (2005), →ISBN, page 72:

     As Emily [Brontë] turned in on herself for resources, she created a new paracosm, the Kingdom of Gondal, which she shared with Anne. The paracosm of Gondal became a way of life for the sisters; they shared its secrets for the rest of their lives.

   • 2007, Thomas Armstrong, The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life, Sterling (2007), →ISBN, page 93:

     One paracosm in their study was a country called Branmail consisting totally of cats — except for its creator, a six-year-old girl named Holly who had access to the world by scaling a height called Bumpety Banks.

   • 2010, Sarah Lynne Bowman, The Functions of Role-Playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity, McFarland & Company (2010), →ISBN, page 130:

     The children created these inner worlds for a number of reasons, though each paracosm tends to be a long-lasting, heavily structured, and internally consistent.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:paracosm.

• paracosmos (rare)
• conworld

• paracosmic