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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

nonpareil en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˌnɑnpəˈɹɛl/ (General-American)
  • (Received-Pronunciation) audio
  • /ˈnɒnpɹ(ə)l/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /nɒm-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /nɒnpəˈɹeɪ(l)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈnɒm-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈnɒnpəɹ(ə)l/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Late Middle English non-parail (“unparalleled, nonpareil”) [and other forms], from Middle French nonpareille, nonpareil (“unparalleled”) (obsolete), from non- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + pareil (“alike, like, same”). Pareil is derived from Old French pareil, from Late Latin pāriculus (“equal; like; of a number: even”), from Latin pār (“equal; like; of a number: even; suitable”) + -culus (a variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutives)). Noun sense 4 (size of type standardized at 6-point) is usually taken to derive from the attractive type cut by the brothers Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori (fl. 1482–1503 and 1496–1527 respectively) for their 1498 edition of the divine offices in Venice; it was for a long time the smallest-sized type in use.

Meanings

  1. (qualifier:frequently postpositive) Unequalled, unrivalled; unique.
    • A veritable artist, possessed of a deftness nonpareil with cotton swab and evacuation-hypo, the medical attaché is known among the shrinking upper classes of petro-Arab nations as the DeBakey of maxillofacial yeast […] 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 33:
    • […]the series stars Samantha Morton as Margaret Wells, a London brothel owner; Ms. Brown Findlay as Charlotte, her older daughter and the city’s courtesan nonpareil; […] 2017 March 22, Kathryn Shattuck, “‘Harlots,’ on Hulu, Has Sex. But Settle Down, Guys.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
    • He informed the clerk that he would remain three or four days, inquired concerning the sailing of European steamships, and sank into the blissful inanition of the nonpareil hotel with the contented air of a traveller in his favorite inn. 1919, O. Henry, “Transients in Arcadia”, in The Voice of the City:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
most nonpareil Degree=Sup lexicographic
non-pareil alternative lexicographic
more nonpareil Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Antonyms

ten a penny · common as muck · dime a dozen · basic · common as dirt · routine · frequent · pedestrian · quotidian · plain · two a penny · par for the course · common · bog-standard · usual · routinary · workaday · regular · common as bums · nonrare · average · everyday · general · common as pig tracks · habitual

Relateds

umpire

Synonyms

alone · unrivalled · unequaled · singular · unique · nonpareil · azygous · peerless · matchless · unparalleled · sui generis · incomparable · only · unmatched

Translations (22)

de unerreicht (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · fr sans pareil (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · it impareggiabile (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · fr nonpareil (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · ru несравне́нный (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · ro exemplu (neegalabil) (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · es sin par (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · pt sem igual (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · pt sem par (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · cs unikum (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · fr sans égal (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · fr hors de pair (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · cmn 無儔 /无俦 (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · es incomparable (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · ko 비할 데가 없는 (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · fi ylivertainen (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · it ineguagliabile (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · es sin paralelo (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · pt incomparável (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · ru бесподо́бный (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · ro model de perfecțiune (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled) · cs nesrovnatelné (unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled)

wikipedia: Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori

nonpareil en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˌnɑnpəˈɹɛl/ (General-American)
  • (Received-Pronunciation) audio
  • /ˈnɒnpɹ(ə)l/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /nɒm-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /nɒnpəˈɹeɪ(l)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈnɒm-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈnɒnpəɹ(ə)l/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Late Middle English non-parail (“unparalleled, nonpareil”) [and other forms], from Middle French nonpareille, nonpareil (“unparalleled”) (obsolete), from non- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + pareil (“alike, like, same”). Pareil is derived from Old French pareil, from Late Latin pāriculus (“equal; like; of a number: even”), from Latin pār (“equal; like; of a number: even; suitable”) + -culus (a variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutives)). Noun sense 4 (size of type standardized at 6-point) is usually taken to derive from the attractive type cut by the brothers Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori (fl. 1482–1503 and 1496–1527 respectively) for their 1498 edition of the divine offices in Venice; it was for a long time the smallest-sized type in use.

Meanings

  1. (countable) A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.
    • King John of France, once prisoner in England, came […] to see the Countess of Salisbury, the nonpareil of those times, and his dear mistress. 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 2, subsection ii:
    • (a wren) crept or crawled, just like a true tree-creeper. I was, as I say, quite close, and watched it most attentively. It certainly—as far as good looking can settle it—did not assist itself with the wings. They remained close against the sides, or, if they moved at all, it was imperceptible to my eyes (which, by the way, are non-pareils). 1901, Edmund Selous, Bird Watching, p. 240:
    • My lord and master loves you. O, such love / Could be but recompens'd though you were crown'd / The nonpareil of beauty! c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
  2. (countable, uncountable) The blue underwing or Clifden nonpareil (Catocala fraxini), a species of moth distributed across the Palearctic; also (obsolete) any of a number of moths of other species.
  3. (Australia, archaic, countable, uncountable) In full nonpareil parrot: an eastern rosella, of species Platycercus eximius, a rosella (parrot) native to southeastern Australia.
  4. (US, countable, uncountable) A painted bunting (Passerina ciris), a brightly-coloured finch native to North America.
  5. (archaic, countable, uncountable) In full nonpareil apple: an apple tasting both sweet and tart which ripens very late in the season; also, the tree producing this fruit.
  6. (US, archaic, countable, uncountable) Any of various types of small sweets.
  7. (US, broadly, countable, dated, uncountable) A small pellet of white or coloured sugar used as decoration on baked goods and candy.
  8. (US, broadly, countable, uncountable) A small, flat chocolate drop covered with such pellets of sugar, similar to a comfit.
  9. (US, broadly, countable, uncountable) A caper (“pickled edible flower bud”) of the smallest size.
  10. (historical, uncountable) A size of type between ruby and emerald (or, in the United States, between agate and minion), standardized as 6-point; (countable) a slug of this size.
    • I believe that letters which are less than a millimetre and a half (1/17 inch) high, will finally prove injurious to the eye. How little attention has hitherto been paid to this important subject is exemplified in the fact that even oculistic journals and books frequently contain nonpareil, or letters only a millimetre (1/25 inch) high. 1881 May 19, Hermann Cohn, “Eyes and School-Books”, in Popular Science Monthly:
    • A Handbook of Astronomy (cover, brown leather, detached, 5 plates, antique letterpress long primer, author’s footnotes nonpareil, marginal clues brevier, captions small pica). 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[17]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
nonpareillo alternative lexicographic
nonpareils Number=Plur lexicographic
non-pareil alternative lexicographic
nonparella alternative lexicographic

Synonyms

hundreds and thousands · sprinkles · nonpareille

Translations (7)

es nompareille (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size) · it nompariglia (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size) · cs nonparej (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size) · ru нонпарель (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size) · de Nonpareille (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size) · nl nonparel (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size) · fr nonpareille (size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size)

wikipedia: Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori