Paradise is ultimately of Proto Indo European origin, but its journey to English has taken it on a grand tour of the ancient world. It’s formed from a combination of two PIE roots:

• per, a preposition meaning “through, across, around”, the ancestor of English per (as in three per dollar) and peri- (as in periscope, perimeter, periphery, and period);
• dheigh, “to knead, to form from clay”, ancestor of dairy, figurine, dough, and fiction.

These elements came into Avestan, an Indo European language spoken in Persia (modern Iran) around 1000 BC, as pairi and deza respectively. Avestan pairidaeza literally meant “create a form around; enclosed area”, and was used to refer to enclosed yards, parks, and gardens. Pairidaeza was borrowed into Greek as paradeisos, and originally referred to Persian hunting parks or orchards; but it was used in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, to refer to the Garden of Eden. In the Greek New Testament, paradeisos was used to refer to heaven itself. Paradeisos in turn was borrowed into Latin as paradisus, descended into Old French as paradis, and finally entered English around 1175. Originally in English it referred only to the Garden of Eden, but by 1300 it could mean any heavenly, Eden-like place.

The combination of the “p” and “r” in the first syllable indicates a place associated with strong energies. The vowel — a short “a” usually — indicates a balanced, even area. The second syllable continues the association with balanced energy, but the third introduces a new theme: a doorway that leads to an expansive place, a region of intellectual and creative pursuits, goal-oriented, conducted with flourish. Does sound rather nice, doesn’t it?

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