Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages, using other words. The term "paraphrase" derives via the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 "paraphrasis" from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 <<παράφραση>>, meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis."

A paraphrase typically explains or clarifies the text that is being paraphrased. For example, "The signal was red" might be paraphrased as "The train was not allowed to proceed." When accompanying the original statement, a paraphrase is usually introduced with a verbum dicendi

Verbum dicendi

A verbum dicendi is a word that expresses speech or introduces a quotation, such as "say", "utter", "ask" or "rumble". Verba dicendi may grammaticalize into quotatives....

— a declaratory expression to signal the transition to the paraphrase.