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 Then there are flu viruses—so often held up as the paragon of endemicity, but actually a better example of just how absurdly confusing endemicity can get. — Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 1 Feb. 2022 To me, Shackleton remains a paragon of the virtues and abilities that comprise leadership in its most effective form. — Alex Lazarow, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2021 The 1946 film remains a paragon of depicting the challenges that soldiers face readjusting to life back home, in part because Russell's life was incorporated into Homer's story. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Nov. 2021 The nation is hardly a paragon on environmental virtue. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 26 Jan. 2022 Verdugo has not exactly been a paragon of patience towards the season’s end. — BostonGlobe.com, 19 Oct. 2021 And Texas looks like a paragon of health compared to Florida, where there were 653.8 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in those same seven days. — Karen Kaplan Science And Medicine Editor, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2021 With Tangerine and The Florida Project, Sean Baker established himself as the auteur’s auteur of the American indie scene, such a paragon of artistic integrity that other filmmakers can only look on with jealous awe. — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 2 July 2021 So far, the Corvette has been a paragon of reliability—with one exception: The navigation system quit working. — David Beard, Car and Driver, 11 Feb. 2022 See More

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.