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Paragon Has Old Italian and Greek Roots
Paragon derives from the Old Italian word paragone, which literally means "touchstone." A touchstone is a black stone that was formerly used to judge the purity of gold or silver. The metal was rubbed on the stone and the color of the streak it left indicated its quality. In modern English, both touchstone and paragon have come to signify a standard against which something should be judged. Ultimately, paragon comes from the Greek parakonan, meaning "to sharpen," from the prefix para- ("alongside of") and akonē, meaning "whetstone."
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Examples of paragon in a Sentence
Jonah Weiner, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2024
Advertisement Rather than painting a hagiographic portrait of these designers, the series takes an unflinching look at their activities during the Nazi occupation of France, when everyone — even those now celebrated as paragons of taste and style — made painful choices in order to survive.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for paragon 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paragon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Paragon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paragon. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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