nonpareil

The story

1. Latin · derived frompār“equal; like; of a number: even; suitable”
2. Late Latin · derived frompāriculus“equal; like; of a number: even”
3. Old French · derived frompareil
4. Middle French · derived fromnonpareille
5. Middle English · inherited fromnon-parail“unparalleled, nonpareil”
6. English todaynonpareil

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.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. Unequalled, unrivalled; unique.
• from 16th c. A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.