paragon
pa·ra·gon
noun
an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept
model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
Origin
Borrowed from Middle French paragon, paragone, from Old Italian paragone, from paragonare (“to test on a touchstone”), perhaps from Ancient Greek παρακονᾶν (parakonân, “to sharpen, whet”), from παρά- (pará-) + ἀκόνη (akónē, “whetstone, sharpening stone”), from ἀκή (akḗ, “point, edge”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”)).
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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.