excelență

Forms

excelență f (plural excelențe)^[1] Old texts have many variants, among them ecțelenție, escelenție, exelenție, exțelenție and celenție; the modern form excelență is first recorded in Bobb's dictionary of 1822.^[2][3] It is pronounced with ex-ce- in separate syllables.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned loan, borrowed from Latin excellentia (“superiority, excellence”), and at the same time borrowed from French excellence.^[2][4] DELR, MDA2, DEX and MDN give both sources, Tiktin only the Latin.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} DELR explains the variant ⟨exțelenț⟩, used as a title, by German Exzellenz, and ⟨eccelenție⟩ and ⟨celenție⟩ by Italian eccelenza.^[2] The Latin noun is formed on excellēns, the present participle of excellō (“to excel”).^[1][7] Within Romanian the word lines up with excela and -ență.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1737, the form ecțelenție in a print listed in the Bibliografia românească veche.^[2][6] The word came in as a form of address for persons of high rank.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The many 18th-century variants show the title taken from several languages at once, Latin, German and Italian, before the French form settled the spelling.^[2] Beside the title, the abstract sense “high degree of perfection” and the phrase prin excelență “par excellence, above all” were current by the early 20th century;^[8][9][2] DELR also notes a rare old în excelență.^[8][9][2] DEX 2009 gives only the title and the phrase, while MDA2 and NODEX keep the sense “superiority, excellent quality”.^[4][3][10] The title, given to ambassadors and high officials, and among Catholics to bishops, is used with a possessive: Excelența Sa, Excelența Voastră.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 1737 – ecțelenție, the first record.^[2][6]
• 1759 – the related title ecselentisum “most excellent” in a document published by Iorga.^[2][13]
• late 18th century – in a chronicle of the Letopisețe collection, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1808 – the adjective excelent, as exțelenț, in Țichindeal.^[2]
• 1822 – the form excelență in Bobb's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Excellency: a title given to ambassadors and, in some countries, to high officials of state, used with a possessive in addressing or speaking of them.^[4][3][1]
2. (rare) excellence, a high degree of perfection.^[3][5][10]
3. prin excelență: par excellence, in the highest degree, above all.^[4][3]

Related words

• excela
• excelent
• excelentisim
• Latin excellentia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. excela
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 851
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 367
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. excelență
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. excelență
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 236
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. excelență
10. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. excelență
11. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. excelență
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 232
13. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. excelentisim