Paragraph

Pär'a-grāph, n. [Fr. paragraphe, Pr. paragrapho, Sp., Pg., & It. paragrafo, Sp. also párrafo, from Gr. παράγραφος (sc. γραμμή), a line or stroke drawn in the margin, from παραγράφειν, to write beside, from παρά, beside, and γράφειν, to write.]

1Sense 1. A marginal remark or note, set to call attention to something in a text, or to mark a change of subject;—at present, the character [¶], used as a reference, or to mark a division.

☞ This character is merely a modification of a capital P (the initial of the word paragraph), the letter being reversed, and the black part made white and the white part black for the sake of distinctiveness.

2Sense 2. A distinct part of a discourse or writing; any portion or section of a writing or chapter which relates to a particular point, whether consisting of one sentence or many sentences, noted by the mark [¶], or, more usually, by a break in the composition, and the commencement of a new line, indented, or begun further in from the margin than the other lines.

3Sense 3. Hence, a short passage; a sentence; a notice or brief remark, as in a newspaper, or the like.