1. [n]  a flat disk of chocolate covered with beads of colored sugar
2. [n]  colored beads of sugar used as a topping on e.g. candies and cookies
3. [n]  model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
4. [adj]  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"

1. \Non`pa*reil"\, n. [See {Nonpareil}, a. ]
   1. Something of unequaled excellence; a peerless thing or
      person; a nonesuch; -- often used as a name.
   2. [F. nonpareille.] (Print.) A size of type next smaller
      than minion and next larger than agate (or ruby).
   Note: This line is printed in the type called nonpareil.
   3. (Zo["o]l.)
      (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 finch}.
      (b) Any other similar bird of the same genus.
   

2. \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.
   

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.