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nonpareil

 - 5 dictionary results

non⋅pa⋅reil

[non-puh-rel]
–adjective
1. having no equal; peerless.
–noun
2. a person or thing having no equal.
3. a small pellet of colored sugar for decorating candy, cake, and cookies.
4. a flat, round, bite-sized piece of chocolate covered with this sugar.
5. painted bunting.
6. Printing.
a. a 6-point type.
b. a slug occupying 6 points of space between lines.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME nonparaille < MF nonpareil, equiv. to non- non- + pareil equal < VL *pariculum (L pari- (s. of pār) equal + -culum -cule 1 )


1. unparalleled. 2. nonesuch.


1. ordinary.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To nonpareil
non·pa·reil   (nŏn'pə-rěl')   
adj.  Having no equal; peerless: the Yankees' nonpareil center fielder.
n.  
  1. A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.

  2. See painted bunting.

  3. A small, flat chocolate drop covered with white pellets of sugar.


[Middle English nounparalle, from Old French nonpareil : non-, non- + pareil, equal (from Vulgar Latin *pariculus, diminutive of Latin pār, equal; see perə-2 in Indo-European roots).]
painted bunting  
n.  A small finch (Passerina ciris) of the southern United States and Mexico, the male of which has brilliant multicolored plumage. Also called nonpareil.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

nonpareil 
1477 (adj.), "having no equal," from M.Fr. nonpareil "unequalled," from non- "not" + pareil "equal." The noun meaning "an unequaled person or thing" is from 1593; first applied to a kind of candy 1697. As the name of a printing type (6 point size) it is attested from 1647.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

Nonpareil
One of five pedagogical languages based on Markov algorithms, used in ["Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman, ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968)]. The others were Brilliant, Diamond, Pearl and Ruby.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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