Definition of PARAGON

Paragon Has Old Italian and Greek Roots

Noun

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."

Examples of paragon in a Sentence

Noun

in Arthurian legend, Sir Galahad is depicted as the one knight who is a paragon of virtue

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

When Sony Classical released smallish multidisc tributes to such once-famous paragons as the cellist Leonard Rose, the pianist Alexander Brailowsky and the Budapest String Quartet last... — David Mermelstein, WSJ, "Casadesus: Hard to Say, Easy to Listen To," 9 Apr. 2019 Many were delighted to see this ostensible paragon of virtue take a fall. — Dwight Garner, New York Times, "A New Biography Traces Tiger Woods’s Mythical Rise and Fall," 19 Mar. 2018 By the same token, anyone unmasked as less than a moral paragon will be vilified. — Paula Marantz Cohen, WSJ, "Kant in Kindergarten Could Ease the Civility Crisis," 28 Dec. 2018 Now, the model, designer, and perpetual paragon of Parisian elegance brings them into her home and the interior spaces of other creative Parisians with her latest tome, Maison: Parisian Chic at Home (Flammarion, 2018). — Lindsey Tramuta, Condé Nast Traveler, "Ines de la Fressange and Marin Montagut on How to Achieve 'Parisian Chic'," 1 Oct. 2018 Enter Hader’s Barry, a dour, Midwestern hitman, and a paragon of professionalism compared to the Chechens. — Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, "You should know Anthony Carrigan, 'Gotham' villain turned Bill Hader's 'Barry' foil," 26 Apr. 2018 Penn’s hallmarks were stillness and poise, using studio lights to capture models as paragons of elegance. — Brenda Cronin, WSJ, "A Century of Fashion and Photographic Genius," 1 June 2018 The 32-story rental tower at 461 Dean St., in the Pacific Park complex in Brooklyn, completed in 2016 and now fully leased, was supposed to be a paragon of high-rise modular design. — Stefanos Chen, The Seattle Times, "Real estate technology that could have a lasting effect on housing," 20 Nov. 2018 To start: Indian Canyon Road is packed with antique shops and galleries, and Sunnylands (a 200-acre historic estate) and the iconic neighborhood of Twin Palms are paragons of mid-century design. — Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Cities in the U.S.: 2018 Readers' Choice Awards," 9 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'paragon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.