excellent
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word excellent. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word excellent, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say excellent in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word excellent you have here. The definition of the word excellent will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofexcellent, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: excel·lent
English
Etymology
From Middle English excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns (“elevated, exalted”), present participle of excellō (“elevate, exult”), equivalent to excel + -ent.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛksələnt/, /ˈɛksɪlənt/
- (in rapid speech) IPA(key): /ˈɛkslənt/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɛksələnt/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
excellent (comparative excellenter or more excellent, superlative excellentest or most excellent)
- Having excelled, having surpassed.
- Of higher or the highest quality; splendid.
- 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., , , →OCLC, page 0016:
- 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.
- Exceptionally good of its kind.
- 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
- Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.
- Bill and Ted had an excellent adventure last week in preparation of their history exam.
- Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality.
- 1754–1762, David Hume, The History of England
- Elizabeth, therefore, who was an excellent hypocrite
- 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:
- Their sorrows are most excellent.
- 1754–1762, David Hume, The History of England
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
of the highest quality
|
Adverb
excellent (comparative more excellent, superlative most excellent)
- (obsolete) Excellently.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:, New York Review Books 2001, p.287:
- Lucian, in his tract de Mercede conductis, hath excellent well deciphered such men's proceedings in his picture of Opulentia .
Further reading
- “excellent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- excellent in Britannica Dictionary
- excellent in Macmillan Collocations Dictionary
- excellent in Ozdic collocation dictionary
- excellent in WordReference English Collocations
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch excellent, from Middle French excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns.
Pronunciation
Adjective
excellent (comparative excellenter, superlative excellentst)
- (formal) excellent, splendid
- Synonyms: uitmuntend, uitstekend
Inflection
| Inflection of excellent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uninflected | excellent | |||
| inflected | excellente | |||
| comparative | excellenter | |||
| positive | comparative | superlative | ||
| predicative/adverbial | excellent | excellenter | het excellentst het excellentste | |
| indefinite | m./f. sing. | excellente | excellentere | excellentste |
| n. sing. | excellent | excellenter | excellentste | |
| plural | excellente | excellentere | excellentste | |
| definite | excellente | excellentere | excellentste | |
| partitive | excellents | excellenters | — | |
Related terms
Descendants
French
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin excellentem.
Pronunciation
Adjective
excellent (feminine excellente, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentes)
Usage notes
This adjective is generally placed before the noun it modifies.
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Pronunciation
Verb
excellent
Further reading
- “excellent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Latin
Verb
excellent
Middle French
Noun
excellent m (feminine singular excellente, masculine plural excellens, feminine plural excellentes)
Occitan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio (Béarn) (file)
Adjective
excellent m (feminine singular excellenta, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentas)