excellent
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns (“elevated, exalted”), present participle of excellō (“elevate, exult”), equivalent to excel + -ent.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛksələnt/, /ˈɛksɪlənt/
- (in rapid speech) IPA(key): /ˈɛkslənt/
Audio (US) (file)
AdjectiveEdit
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 7780546; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], OCLC 2666860, 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 3083972, Act II, scene iii:
- Their sorrows are most excellent.
- 1754–1762, David Hume, The History of England
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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AdverbEdit
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 54573970:, 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 readingEdit
- excellent at OneLook Dictionary Search
- excellent in Britannica Dictionary
- excellent in Macmillan Collocations Dictionary
- excellent in Ozdic collocation dictionary
- excellent in WordReference English Collocations
DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch excellent, from Middle French excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
excellent (comparative excellenter, superlative excellentst)
- (formal) excellent, splendid
- Synonyms: uitmuntend, uitstekend
InflectionEdit
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 termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
FrenchEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Borrowed from Latin excellens.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
excellent (feminine excellente, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentes)
Usage notesEdit
This adjective is generally placed before the noun it modifies.
Etymology 2Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
excellent
Further readingEdit
- “excellent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
LatinEdit
VerbEdit
excellent
Middle FrenchEdit
NounEdit
excellent m (feminine singular excellente, masculine plural excellens, feminine plural excellentes)
OccitanEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (Béarn) (file)
AdjectiveEdit
excellent m (feminine singular excellenta, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentas)