Etymologically
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excellent

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛk.sɛ.lɑ̃/[1]
  • IPA: /ɛk.se.lɑ̃/[1]

Forms

excellent (feminine excellente, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin excellēns (“eminent, superior”), the present participle of excellō (“to surpass, be superior”) (see exceller).[2][3][4] Rey explains the verb as ex- and an unattested simple verb whose only remnant is the past participle celsus (“high”), related to culmen (“summit”) and collis (“hill”).[3] According to Palsgrave the word was pronounced ⟨euzellant⟩ in the 16th century.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Chronique des ducs de Normandie (about 1170) has Sor toz les autres excellenz, “excelling above all the others”;[2] the adjective was first used as a superlative or comparative.[3]

Semantic evolution

It came to mean “nearly perfect of its kind”, of both things and people.[3] The sense “very good, kind”, of people judged morally (une excellente personne), is ageing or has become condescending.[3] As an interjection, Excellent ! is recorded in 1797.[3]

The adverb excellemment appears as excellentement in 1326 and in its modern form in 1539.[3] Excellence, borrowed about 1170 from excellentia, became a title of ambassadors and archbishops after Italian usage, and par excellence dates from 1524.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – Excellenz in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[2]
  • 1326 – Excellentement.[3]
  • 1524 – Par excellence.[3]
  • Mid-16th century – “Of high merit”, in Amyot.[6]
  • 1797 – The interjection Excellent !.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Excellent, very good of its kind: un plat excellent, d'excellents vins, une excellente idée.[7][1]
  2. Of a person, outstanding in what they do: un excellent professeur.[7][6]
  3. (dated) Very kind, good-hearted: une excellente personne.[3]

Interjection

  1. Excellent !: splendid![3][8]

Word family

  • excellemment
  • exceller
  • excellence

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF