paragon

From Anglo-Norman paragone, peragone, Middle French paragon, from Italian paragone (“comparison”) or Spanish parangón, from paragonare, from Ancient Greek παρακονάω (parakonáō, “I sharpen, whet”), from παρά (pará) +‎ ἀκόνη (akónē, “whetstone”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”)).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹəɡən/

paragon (plural paragons)

1. A person of preeminent qualities, who acts as a pattern or model for others. [from 16th c.]

   In the novel, Constanza is a paragon of virtue who would never compromise her reputation.

   • Shakespeare

     Man, […] the paragon of animals!

   • Emerson

     The riches of sweet Mary's son, / Boy-rabbi, Israel's paragon.

   • 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport)‎:

     Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of [Oscar] Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.

2. (obsolete) A companion; a match; an equal. [16th–19th c.]
   • Sir Philip Sidney

     Philoclea, who indeed had no paragon but her sister

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

3. (obsolete) Comparison; competition. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ix:

     good by paragone / Of euill, may more notably be rad, / As white seemes fairer, macht with blacke attone […] .

4. (typography, printing, dated) The size of type between great primer and double pica, standardized as 20-point. [from 18th c.]
5. A flawless diamond of at least 100 carats.

• (model): See Thesaurus:model

paragon (third-person singular simple present paragons, present participle paragoning, simple past and past participle paragoned)

1. To compare; to parallel; to put in rivalry or emulation with.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Philip Sidney to this entry?)

2. To compare with; to equal; to rival.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

   • Glover

     In arms anon to paragon the morn, / The morn new rising.

3. To serve as a model for; to surpass.
   • Shakespeare

     He hath achieved a maid / That paragons description and wild fame.

4. To be equal; to hold comparison.

• paragon in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• paragon in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• paragon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• IPA^(key): [ˈparaɡon]

paragon m

1. A receipt, sales slip.

• stvrzenka
• účtenka

mid 16th century: from obsolete French, from Italian paragone ‘touchstone to try good (gold) from bad’, from medieval Greek parakonē ‘whetstone’

• IPA^(key): /paˈra.ɡɔn/

paragon m inan

1. receipt (written acknowledgment that a specified article or sum of money has been received)

• paragonik

• paragon on the Polish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^pl