PARAGON  , a

term for that which is a model of excellence or pattern of perfection, hence some person or thing which has no equal . The word was adopted from the O . Fr. paragon, Mod. paraggon, Ital. paragon and Span. paragon . The Spanish has usually been taken as the source, and the word explained as from the prepositional phrase Para con, in comparison with . But the word first appears in Italian, meaning a " touchstone.” The Italian word may be connected with the Gr. lraparov&v, to sharpen by the use of a whetstone (alto' ) . The term has been used in several technical applications, e.g. in printing, of a large style of type between " great primer " and " double pica," now usually called " two-line long primer "; of a diamond weighing more than loo carats; and formerly of a fabric used for hangings in the 17th and 18th centuries .