From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Nonpareil \Non`pa*reil"\, a. [F., from non not + pareil equal,
fr. LL. pariculus, dim. of L. par equal. See {Non}, and
{Pair}, {Peer}.]
Having no equal; peerless.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Nonpareil \Non`pa*reil"\, n. [See {Nonpareil}, a. ]
1. Something of unequaled excellence; a peerless thing or
person; a nonesuch; -- often used as a name.
[1913 Webster]
2. [F. nonpareille.] (Print.) A size of type next smaller
than minion and next larger than agate (or ruby).
[1913 Webster]
3. (Zool.)
(a) A beautifully colored finch ({Passerina ciris}),
native of the Southern United States. The male has the
head and neck deep blue, rump and under parts bright
red, back and wings golden green, and the tail bluish
purple. Called also {painted bunting} and {painted
finch}.
(b) Any other similar bird of the same genus.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
4. (Cookery) A small sphere, less than 1 mm diamter, of
colored sugar, used to decorate confections; -- usually
used in the plural as though the name of a substance; as,
sprinkled with nonpareils.
[PJC]
5. pl. A type of candy chocolate consisting of a small flat
disk of chocolate, less than one inch diameter, having
nonpareils[4] sprinkled on the top; as, she ate a box of
nonpareils at the movie.
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
nonpareil
adj 1: eminent beyond or above comparison; "matchless beauty";
"the team's nonpareil center fielder"; "she's one girl in
a million"; "the one and only Muhammad Ali"; "a peerless
scholar"; "infamy unmatched in the Western world"; "wrote
with unmatchable clarity"; "unrivaled mastery of her art"
[syn: {matchless}, {nonpareil}, {one(a)}, {one and
only(a)}, {peerless}, {unmatched}, {unmatchable},
{unrivaled}, {unrivalled}]
n 1: model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no
equal [syn: {ideal}, {paragon}, {nonpareil}, {saint},
{apotheosis}, {nonesuch}, {nonsuch}]
2: colored beads of sugar used as a topping on e.g. candies and
cookies
3: a flat disk of chocolate covered with beads of colored sugar
|
