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paragon

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A model of excellence or perfection of a kind; a peerless example.
  • noun An unflawed diamond weighing at least 100 carats.
  • noun A very large spherical pearl.
  • noun Printing A type size of 20 points.
  • transitive verb To compare; parallel.
  • transitive verb To equal; match.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A model or pattern; especially, a model or pattern of special excellence or perfection.
  • noun A companion; fellow; mate.
  • noun A rival.
  • noun Rivalry; emulation; hence, comparison; a test of excellence or superiority.
  • noun A stuff, embroidered or plain, used for dress and upholstery in the seventeenth century.
  • noun A diamond weighing more than 100 carats.
  • noun A size of printing-type, about lines to the inch, the intermediate of the larger size double small-pica and the smaller size great-primer, equal to 20 points, and so distinguished in the new system of sizes.
  • To compare; parallel; mention in comparison or competition.
  • To admit comparison with; rival; equal.
  • To go beyond; excel; surpass.
  • To compare; pretend to comparison or equality.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To compare; to parallel; to put in rivalry or emulation with.
  • transitive verb rare To compare with; to equal; to rival.
  • transitive verb obsolete To serve as a model for; to surpass.
  • noun obsolete A companion; a match; an equal.
  • noun obsolete Emulation; rivalry; competition.
  • noun A model or pattern
  • noun (Print.) A size of type between great primer and double pica. See the Note under Type.
  • intransitive verb rare To be equal; to hold comparison.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A flawless diamond of at least 100 carats.
  • verb To compare; to parallel; to put in rivalry or emulation with.
  • verb To compare with; to equal; to rival.
  • verb To serve as a model for; to surpass.
  • verb To be equal; to hold comparison.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
  • noun an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete French, from Old French, from Old Italian paragone, from paragonare, to test on a touchstone, perhaps from Greek parakonān, to sharpen : para-, alongside; see para– + akonē, whetstone; see ak- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman paragone, peragone, Middle French paragon, from Italian paragone ("comparison"), from paragonare, from Ancient Greek παρακονάω (parakonaō, "I sharpen, whet"), from παρά (para) + ἀκόνη (akonē, "whetstone").

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Examples

  • And do you not think, Plato, that it might possibly be found that this paragon is a Canadian?

    The Canadian National Character 1904

  • It was approximately 18000.00 Capitol one acknowledged that the debt was satisfied. a couple of months later I received notice from some outfit called paragon way.

    unknown title 2009

  • It was approximately 18000.00 Capitol one acknowledged that the debt was satisfied. a couple of months later I received notice from some outfit called paragon way.

    unknown title 2009

  • "Here you are, what they call a paragon of success, a future senator, Ambassador to England.

    A Far Country — Complete Winston Churchill 1909

  • "Here you are, what they call a paragon of success, a future senator, Ambassador to England.

    A Far Country — Volume 3 Winston Churchill 1909

  • "Here you are, what they call a paragon of success, a future senator, Ambassador to England.

    Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Winston Churchill Winston Churchill 1909

  • This paragon was hers, and it bore the cherished name.

    SAMUEL 2010

  • Lincoln's Town Car sedan is another example of a top-rated luxury car from a parent company not known as a paragon of reliability.

    Most-Reliable Luxury Cars 2006 2006

  • ‘I don’t know what you may call a paragon, my dear.

    The Last Chronicle of Barset 2004

  • This paragon was hers, and it bore the cherished name.

    Samuel 1914

Comments

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  • tonya commented on the word paragon

    A paragon is peerless, but to paragon something is to compare or make it equal.

    August 14, 2008

  • gangerh commented on the word paragon

    Isn't this the prescription drug for parago?

    May 8, 2009

  • bilby commented on the word paragon

    "Even his friends and business associates, men and women alike, were paragons of health: avoiders of fatty foods, moderate drinkers, health-club habitues, lovers of cross-country skiing, weekend canoe trips, and daylong hikes in the North Woods."

    - Alvin Greenberg, 'How the Dead Live'.

    June 9, 2009