excellence
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Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈɛksələns/[1]
Etymology
It is Middle English, borrowed from Old French excellence, itself from Latin excellentia, superiority,[2][3][4] from excellēns, excellentem, distinguished, superior, present participle of excellere, to surpass, rise above (see excel),[2][5] from ex-, out, and -cellere, to rise high, related to celsus, high,[2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to be prominent”).[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
The state of excelling; superiority, greatness: 1382 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[6][2]
Semantic evolution
An excellent action or favour (about 1385, obsolete) and the quality in which someone excels (about 1391) followed soon after.[6] The word was used of an excellent person (1447) and as a title of honour (about 1590), senses now taken by excellency.[6]
Timeline
- 1382 – superiority.[6]
- c. 1391 – an excellent quality.[6]
- 1447 – an excellent person.[6]
- c. 1590 – a title of honour.[6]
Modern meaning
Noun
- The state or quality of excelling; superiority.
- Something in which a person or thing excels.
- Excellency, as a title.
Word family
- superexcellence
Related words
- excel
- excellent
- excellency
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press