Dictionary / excellent
excellent
- adjective
- adverb
- from Old French
Having excelled, having surpassed.
1 All current definitions
Every sense of “excellent” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.
adjective
- Having excelled, having surpassed.
- Of higher or the highest quality; splendid.
A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [19
- Exceptionally good of its kind.
Bill and Ted had an excellent adventure last week in preparation for their history exam.
- Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality.
Elizabeth, therefore, who was an excellent hypocrite1754–1762, David Hume, “(please specify the page)”, in [The History of England ], volume (please specify |volume=1 to 6), London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […]:
adverb
No current senses for this part of speech — see older senses.
Older & obsolete senses (1)
- obsoleteExcellently.
Cross-check: WordNet senses (1)
- adjectivevery good;of the highest quality — also: first-class, fantabulous, splendid
Synonyms: ace, admirable, amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome, badass, broyal, bang on, bang-up, studly, based, beatific
Antonyms: poor, terrible, bad, inferior
2 History of the word
The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.
The word’s journey, newest to oldest:
- English (today)excellent
- Middle Englishexcellent
- Old Frenchexcellent
- Latinexcellēns “elevated, exalted”
From Middle English excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns (“elevated, exalted”), present participle of excellō (“elevate, exult”), equivalent to excel + -ent.
Derivatives — words built from “excellent”
Phrases & compounds
Related terms
Want to go deeper? See also “excellent” on Etymonline ↗
3 Original language
Where “excellent” came from before it was English.
4 Original meaning
What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.
Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913
A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.
excellent a. [F. excellent, L. excellens, -entis, p. pr. of excellere. See Excel.]
- Excelling; surpassing others in some good quality or the sum of qualities; of great worth; eminent, in a good sense; superior; as, an excellent man, artist, citizen, husband, discourse, book, song, etc.; excellent breeding, principles, aims, action.
- Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality; -- used with words of a bad significance.
excellent adv.
- Excellently; eminently; exceedingly.
5 Use it with confidence
Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.
adjectiveMeaning: Of higher or the highest quality; splendid.
A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [19
adjectiveMeaning: Exceptionally good of its kind.
Bill and Ted had an excellent adventure last week in preparation for their history exam.
adjectiveMeaning: Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality.
Elizabeth, therefore, who was an excellent hypocrite1754–1762, David Hume, “(please specify the page)”, in [The History of England ], volume (please specify |volume=1 to 6), London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […]:
Their sorrows are most excellent.1616–1618, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Queene of Corinth”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii
adjectiveMeaning: very good;of the highest quality
made an excellent speech
the school has excellent teachers
Three steps to owning it
- Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
- Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
- Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?
6 The mastery game
Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.
Say it, then spell it
excellent
/ˈɛk.sə.lənt/
Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.
Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________
excellent
/ˈɛk.sə.lənt/ · adjective, adverb
Step 1 — Say it and write it
Say “excellent” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.
Step 2 — Know every meaning
Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.
Step 3 — History and origin
Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):
Write three words built from “excellent” and what each means:
Step 4 — Original meaning
The earliest traceable form is Latin excellēns. What did it mean?
How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?
Step 5 — Use it yourself
☐ I can explain its meanings ☐ I know its history ☐ I know its original language ☐ I know its original meaning ☐ I can use it confidently
Answer key — excellent
Origin: D. Old French (Old French excellent)
Journey: English excellent ← Middle English excellent ← Old French excellent ← Latin excellēns
Some derivatives: eggcellent, excellence, excellently, excellentness, sexcellent, superexcellent, unexcellent
Original meaning: Latin excellēns — “elevated, exalted”
Etymology: From Middle English excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns (“elevated, exalted”), present participle of excellō (“elevate, exult”), equivalent to excel + -ent.
Sources: Wiktionary “excellent” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/excellent#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/excellent