paragon

英 ['p?r?g(?)n] 美['p?r?ɡɑn]

GRE低頻詞暢通詞匯

復(fù)數(shù):?paragons;

paragon 完人，典范

來(lái)自意大利語(yǔ)paragone,磨刀石，試金石，來(lái)自para-,在旁，在周?chē)?ag,尖的，磨，來(lái)自PIE*ak,尖的，鋒利的，詞源同acid,acrid.引申詞義典范，完人，圣人。

paragon: paragon: [16] When we say someone is a ‘paragon of virtue’ – a perfect example of virtue, able to stand comparison with any other – we are unconsciously using the long-dead metaphor of ‘sharpening’ them against others. The word comes via archaic French paragon and Italian paragone from medieval Greek parakónē ‘sharpening stone, whetstone’. Thīs was a derivative of parakonan, a compound verb formed from pará ‘a(chǎn)longside’ and akonan ‘sharpen’ (a descendant of the same base, *ak- ‘be pointed’, as produced English acid, acute, etc), which as well as meaning literally ‘sharpen against’ was also used figuratively for ‘compare’.
=> acid, acute, eager, oxygen
paragon (n.): 1540s, from Middle French paragon "a model, pattern of excellence" (15c., Modern French parangon), from Italian paragone, originally "touchstone to test gold" (early 14c.), from paragonare "to test on a touchstone, compare," from Greek parakonan "to sharpen, whet," from para- "on the side" (see para- (1)) + akone "whetstone," from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (see acrid).