English
paragon
Paragon comes from Old Italian paragone.
- Old Italianmodernparagone
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600paragon
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1587paragon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Italianmodernparagone
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600paragon
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1587paragon
Earliest quotation: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., (please specify the folio): “Philoclea, who indeed had no paragon but her sister”.
The story
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’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’
hear, edge, egg, acid, hammer, ear, acute, axe, eager, acne, oxide, mediocre, vinegar, acetate, mediocrity, acupuncture, acacia, exacerbate, acumen, acme, acuity, hark, acyl, acrid, rosacea, acerbic, roselle, acrimony, exacerbation, 72 more
Today it means
noun A person of preeminent qualities, who acts as a pattern or model for others.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Italian paragone / paragon