Paradigm

A word that I've been running across lately, but have been faking it...Like, yeh right paradigm. just another word for comparison. Well, Ive looked in a lot of places including my old 1895 copy of Funk and Wagnalls, but I still doubt if I understand the nuances of the word. Perhaps if I meditate on this for a while I'll understand more about this and what to compare to what, or maybe just whats what.

I heard it through the grapevine