I. ˈparəˌgän also ˈper- or -_gən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French, from Old Italian paragone, literally, touchstone, from paragonare to compare, test on a touchstone, from Greek parakonan to rub against, sharpen, from par- para- (I) + akonan to sharpen, from akonē whetstone, from akē point — more at edge
1. : a model of excellence or perfection : pattern
a paragon of beauty
a paragon of eloquence
a paragon of virtue
these fictional paragons, whose unalloyed happiness depends upon the determination to grin and bear it — W.F.Hambly
the handsome … factory, a paragon in its day — Lewis Mumford
the French court … the paragon of all the lesser courts — Walter Lippmann
2. archaic
a. : companion , mate
b. : rival
3. obsolete : emulation , rivalry , competition
4. obsolete : a clothing and upholstery fabric of the 17th and 18th centuries similar to camlet
5.
a. : a perfect diamond of 100 carats or more
b. : a perfectly spherical pearl of exceptional size
6. : a black marble
7. : an old size of type of approximately 20 point and slightly larger than great primer
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle French paragonner, from paragon, n.
1. : to compare with : parallel
2. : to put in rivalry
3. obsolete : surpass
a maid that paragons description — Shakespeare