/ɪkˈsɛl/, /ɛkˈsɛl/, /ˈɛksəl/
OriginFrom Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column.
- transitiveTo surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something.
“I excelled everyone else with my exam results.”
“La Rochefoucauld, the French philosopher, said: "If you want enemies, excel your friends; but if you want friends, let your friends excel you." Why is that true? Because when our friends excel us, tha”
- intransitiveTo be much better than others.
“But it is as a destroyer of grasshoppers that the dickcissel excels.”
“1924: Aristotle, Metaphysics. Translated by W. D. Ross. Nashotah, Wisconsin, USA: The Classical Library, 2001. Book 1, Part 2..
If, then, there is something in what the poets say, and jealousy is natu”
“Lescott gave his finest England performance alongside his former Everton team-mate Phil Jagielka, who also excelled despite playing with a fractured toe, while Parker was given a deserved standing ova”
- archaic, rare, transitiveTo exceed, to go beyond.
“She opened; but to shut / Excelled her power: the gates wide open stood […]”
“I reason, we could die : / The best vitality / Cannot excel decay; / But what of that?”
- Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet application software program written and distributed by Microsoft.
““Do you know Excel?” ¶ “No.” ¶ “Could you learn?” ¶ “Probably not. I find it very difficult to learn things I don't already know.” Then, remembering the advice that I try to sell myself, I added, “But”
Formsexcels(present, singular, third-person) · excelling(participle, present) · excelled(participle, past) · excelled(past)