excellent French · revision 16981

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1170, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Chronique des ducs de Normandie|origins=la excello}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛk.sɛ.lɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ɛk.se.lɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''excellent''' (feminine excellente, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|excellēns|t=eminent, superior]], the present participle of [[m|la|excellō|t=to surpass, be superior]] (see [[exceller]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Rey explains the verb as [[m|la|ex-]] and an unattested simple verb whose only remnant is the past participle [[m|la|celsus|t=high]], related to [[m|la|culmen|t=summit]] and [[m|la|collis|t=hill]].^(DHLF 1992) According to Palsgrave the word was pronounced ⟨euzellant⟩ in the 16th century.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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”;^(TLFi) the adjective was first used as a superlative or comparative.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It came to mean “nearly perfect of its kind”, of both things and people.^(DHLF 1992) The sense “very good, kind”, of people judged morally (''une excellente personne''), is ageing or has become condescending.^(DHLF 1992) As an interjection, ''Excellent !'' is recorded in 1797.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The adverb [[excellemment]] appears as ''excellentement'' in 1326 and in its modern form in 1539.^(DHLF 1992) [[excellence|alt=Excellence]], borrowed about 1170 from [[m|la|excellentia]], became a title of ambassadors and archbishops after Italian usage, and ''par excellence'' dates from 1524.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1170 – ''Excellenz'' in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 1326 – ''Excellentement''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1524 – ''Par excellence''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Mid-16th century – “Of high merit”, in Amyot.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1797 – The interjection ''Excellent !''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|excellent|alt=Excellent]], very good of its kind: ''un plat excellent'', ''d'excellents vins'', ''une excellente idée''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a person, outstanding in what they do: ''un excellent professeur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(dated)'' Very kind, good-hearted: ''une excellente personne''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''Excellent !'': splendid!^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[excellemment]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exceller]]

+ * [[excellence]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}