Paragon or epitome (8)
I believe the answer is:
exemplar
I believe this is a double definition.
'paragon' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)
'epitome' is the second definition.
(I've seen this before)
(Other definitions for exemplar that I've seen before include "Model to be followed" , "Something serving as an appropriate model" , "Ideal model" , "A good model or type" , "Epitome" .)