nonpareil

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Middle French nonpareil (“unparalleled”) (obsolete in French), from non- + pareil.

Noun

nonpareil (plural nonpareils)

1. A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.
   • c.1599-1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night; or, What You Will,

     My lord and master loves you. O, such love / Could be but recompens'd though you were crown'd / The nonpareil of beauty!

2. A small pellet of colored sugar used as decoration on baked goods and candy.
3. A small, flat chocolate drop covered with white pellets of sugar, similar to a comfit.
4. (obsolete, printing) A type size; nonpareille.
   • 1881 May 19, Hermann Cohn, Eyes and School-Books, in Popular Science Monthly,

     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.

See also

• Nonpareils on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Nonpareils
• Nonpareil (typography) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Point (typography)#Traditional point-size names

Synonyms

(pellet of colored sugar):

• hundreds and thousands (UK, Australian, plural only)
• sprinkles {probably US, plural only)

Translations

that has no equal

• Finnish: ylivertainen (fi) (adjective)

• Romanian: model de perfecțiune n, exemplu (neegalabil) n

small pellet of colored sugar

• Finnish: nonparelli (fi), strösseli (fi)

small flat chocolate drop