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excello

Etymology and origin of the Latin word excello

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*kelH-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɛksˈkɛl.loː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eksˈt͡ʃɛl.lo][1]

Forms

excellō (present infinitive excellere, perfect active excelluī, supine excelsum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- and a lost verb *cellō (“to rise”), whose participle is celsus “high”.[2][1] Wiktionary traces the verb to Proto-Italic *kelnō and Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to rise”), the root of collis “hill”, and compares South Picene eśelsit.[1] Forms of the second conjugation, as excellet and excelleat, appear in Cicero.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato writes that most people's spirits rise in good fortune.[4][5] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was to rise up, be elated, as in Cato, and to be higher, as in Pliny.[5][2] Usually it meant to be pre-eminent, to surpass or excel, as Cicero's “two orators then excelled”.[2][5]

In medieval music theory it meant to be higher in pitch.[7] English excel was borrowed around 1400, and excellent comes from its participle excellēns.[8]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of spirits rising in good fortune.[5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of orators who excel.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of height.[2][6]
  • c. 1400 – English excel is borrowed.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rise up; to be elated.[5][1]
  2. To be higher, superior in height.[2]
  3. To excel, surpass, be eminent.[2][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin, music) To be higher in pitch.[7]

Word family

  • excellentia
  • excelsus
  • excellēns
  • excellenter
  • excelsē
  • excelsitās
  • excelsum
  • antecellō
  • praecellō
  • celsus
  • English excel
  • English excellent

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Excello.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/excello. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·