par

• POS: Adjective, Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

par, n. 

 See Parr.  [1913 Webster]

par, prep. [F., fr. L. per. See Per.].

 By; with; -- used frequently in Early English in phrases taken from the French, being sometimes written as a part of the word which it governs; as, par amour, or paramour; par cas, or parcase; par fay, or parfay.  [1913 Webster]

par, n. [L. par, adj., equal. See Peer an equal.].

•  Equal value; equality of nominal and actual value; the value expressed on the face or in the words of a certificate of value, as a bond or other commercial paper.  [1913 Webster]
•  Equality of condition or circumstances.  [1913 Webster]
•  An amount which is taken as an average or mean.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  The number of strokes required for a hole or a round played without mistake, two strokes being allowed on each hole for putting. Par represents perfect play, whereas bogey makes allowance on some holes for human frailty. Thus if par for a course is 75, bogey is usually put down, arbitrarily, as 81 or 82. If par for one hole is 5, a bogey is 6, and a score of 7 strokes would be a double bogey.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

At par, at the original price; neither at a discount nor at a premium; -- used especially of financial instruments, such as bonds. -- Above par, at a premium. -- Below par, (a) at a discount. (a) less than the expected or usual quality; -- of the quality of objects and of the performance of people; as, he performed below par in the game. -- On a par, on a level; in the same condition, circumstances, position, rank, etc.; as, their pretensions are on a par; his ability is on a par with his ambition. -- Par of exchange. See under Exchange. -- Par value, nominal value; face value; -- used especially of financial instruments, such as bonds.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

par, n.
1 the average or normal amount, degree, condition, etc. (feel below par; be up to par).
2 equality; an equal status or footing (on a par with).
3 Golf the number of strokes a first-class player should normally require for a hole or course.
4 Stock Exch. the face value of stocks and shares etc. (at par).
5 (in full par of exchange) the recognized value of one country's currency in terms of another's.

Idiom

above (or below) par Stock Exch. at a premium (or discount). at par Stock Exch. at face value. par for the course colloq. what is normal or expected in any given circumstances.

par, n. Brit. esp. Journalism colloq. paragraph.

Etymology

abbr.

THESAURUS

par

alike, asking price, at par, au pair, average, balance, bearish prices, bid price, book value, bullish prices, call price, center, closing price, coequality, coextension, commensurate, correspondence, decline, drawn, equal, equality, equalized, equation, equilibrium, equipoise, equipollence, equiponderance, equity, equivalence, equivalency, even, even stephen, evenness, face value, fifty-fifty, fixed price, flash price, flurry, flutter, generality, golden mean, half-and-half, happy medium, high, identity, issue par, issue price, juste-milieu, justice, knotted, level, levelness, like, likeness, low, market price, market value, mean, median, mediocrity, medium, middle, middle course, middle ground, middle point, middle position, middle state, middle-of-the-road, midpoint, nip and tuck, nominal value, norm, normal, offering price, on a footing, on a level, on a par, on even ground, opening price, par value, parallelism, parity, poise, price, proportion, proportionate, put price, quits, quotation, quoted price, rally, rule, run, sameness, settling price, square, stalemated, standard, stated value, swings, symmetry, tied, via media

ROGET THESAURUS

par

Equality

N equality, parity, coextension, symmetry, balance, poise, evenness, monotony, level, equivalence, equipollence, equipoise, equilibrium, equiponderance, par, quits, a wash, not a pin to choose, distinction without a difference, six of one and half a dozen of the other, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, identity, similarity, equalization, equation, equilibration, co-ordination, adjustment, readjustment, drawn game, drawn battle, neck and neck race, tie, draw, standoff, dead heat, match, peer, compeer, equal, mate, fellow, brother, equivalent, equal, even, level, monotonous, coequal, symmetrical, coordinate, on a par with, on a level with, on a footing with, up to the mark, equiparant, equivalent, tantamount, indistinguishable, quits, homologous, synonymous, resolvable into, convertible, much at one, as broad as long, neither more nor less, much the same as, the same thing as, as good as, all one, all the same, equipollent, equiponderant, equiponderous, equibalanced, equalized, drawn, half and half, isochronal, isochronous isoperimetric, isoperimetrical, isobath, isobathic, equally, pari passu, ad eundum, caeteris paribus, in equilibrio, to all intents and purposes, it comes to the same thing, it amounts to the same thing, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gande.