paraphernalia

"Paraphernalia" means, according to the AHD, "1. personal belongings," "2. the articles used in a particular activity; equipment," or "3. A married woman's personal property exclusive of her dowry, according to common law."

"Paraphernalia" comes from the Medieval Latin word that is spelled the same way except for an accent above the third (and long) "a," which claimed the third, and most specific, definition that our dictionary offers. It also came through Late Latin from Greek; "para-" means "beyond," and "pherne" means "dowry." Our appendix states that "pherne" comes from the IE root "bher," meaning "to carry; to bear children." The "-alia" on the end of the word seems to be a combination of "-al" and "-ia," which, according to our textbook, respectively mean "characteristic of" and "state, condition," or "process, condition."

So, this word ultimately means something like, "the condition of being characteristic of being beyond dowry."

I think it's interesting that a word that began pertaining specifically to dowry had been expanded to refer to any sort of possession, and I think that it's even more interesting that I usually hear this term in the phrase "drug paraphernalia," or at least in a similar context. Perhaps that goes along with the idea of a possession that is untouchable, or at least should be hidden from some authority figure, whether that it is a husband or a policeman.

Source: 1. AHD
2. Charles W. Dunmore and Rita M. Fleischer, Studies in Etymology