excellent (English)
Where does "excellent" come from?
The word 'excellent' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root *kelH-, meaning 'to rise' or 'to be tall.' This concept evolved into the Latin verb 'excellere,' which literally meant to rise out of or surpass others, before passing through Old French into Middle English. Over time, the meaning shifted from a physical description of being elevated to a figurative description of superior quality or being exceptionally good of its kind.
Full etymology tree
- excellent (English), 'Having excelled, having surpassed.'
- inherited from excellent (Middle English)
- borrowed from excellent (Old French)
- inherited from excellēns (Latin), 'elevating, rising'
- derived from excellō (Latin), 'to elevate, raise up'
- compound of ex- (Latin), 'out, away'
- inherited from *eks (Proto-Italic)
- inherited from *h₁eǵʰs (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited from *eks (Proto-Italic)
- compound of *cellō (Latin)
- inherited from *kelnō (Proto-Italic), 'to rise'
- inherited from *kelH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to rise, to be tall'
- inherited from *kelnō (Proto-Italic), 'to rise'
- compound of ex- (Latin), 'out, away'
- derived from excellō (Latin), 'to elevate, raise up'
- inherited from excellēns (Latin), 'elevating, rising'
- borrowed from excellent (Old French)
- inherited from excellent (Middle English)
Direct ancestors
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris