excelsior
English
editEtymology
editFrom Latin excelsior, comparative of excelsus (“high”). The name of the stuffing material was originally a trademark.
Pronunciation
editAdjective
editexcelsior (not comparable)
- (archaic) Loftier, yet higher, more elevated; ever upward.
- More surpassing, more excelling.
Interjection
editexcelsior
- A greeting, farewell or acclamation, presently associated with comic book fandom and famous comic book writer Stan Lee, but continuing a long tradition of parodies of the New York State motto, first by Longfellow and continuing through Thurber to Lee.[1]
References
edit- ^ Excelsior (Longfellow) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Noun
editexcelsior (uncountable)
- (US printing, dated) The size of type between Norse and brilliant, standardized as 3-point.
- Synonym: (UK) minikin
- (Canada, US) Stuffing material (as for furniture and mattresses) made of slender, curled woodshavings, as a substitute for hair.
- Synonym: wood wool
- 1942, Elliot Paul, The Last Time I Saw Paris, Sickle Moon, published 2001, page 91:
- These little mangers, with baby dolls representing Jesus, porcelean Josephs and Marys, wide-eyed cows of papier-mâché, and excelsior for straw, were purchased by pious parents for well-behaved children at Christmas-tide.
- 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 13:
- Working both [of them] at Kroll's then, she selling candy and cashews in a white smock with "Jan" stitched on her pocket and he lugging easy chairs and maple end tables around on the floor above, hammering apart packing crates from nine to five, the itch of the packing excelsior getting into his nose and eyes and making them burn.
Translations
edit3-point type
|
stuffing made of slender, curled wood shavings
|
Further reading
edit- “excelsior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Latin
editEtymology
editexcelsus (“elevated”, “lofty”) + -ior (suffix forming adjectives’ comparative degrees)
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ekˈskel.si.or/, [ɛkˈs̠kɛɫ̪s̠iɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ekˈʃel.si.or/, [ekˈʃɛlsior]
Adjective
editexcelsior (neuter excelsius); third declension
Declension
editThird-declension comparative adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | |
Nominative | excelsior | excelsius | excelsiōrēs | excelsiōra | |
Genitive | excelsiōris | excelsiōrum | |||
Dative | excelsiōrī | excelsiōribus | |||
Accusative | excelsiōrem | excelsius | excelsiōrēs | excelsiōra | |
Ablative | excelsiōre | excelsiōribus | |||
Vocative | excelsior | excelsius | excelsiōrēs | excelsiōra |
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with archaic senses
- English interjections
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- American English
- en:Printing
- English dated terms
- Canadian English
- English terms with quotations
- English genericized trademarks
- en:Timber industry
- Latin terms suffixed with -ior
- Latin 4-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin comparative adjectives