Etymograph

English

excellency

Excellency comes from Latin excellentia ‘excellence, superiority’, from excellēns ‘elevated, exalted’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelH- ‘to rise’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelH-1‘to rise’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*kelnō1‘to rise’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellō2‘elevate, exult’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellēns2‘elevated, exalted’present participle of excellō
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellentia3‘excellence, superiority’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excellencie3
  7. Englishtodayexcellency3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin excello
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin excellentia
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English excellency

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelH-Wiktionary, Latin excello‘to rise’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*kelnōWiktionary, Latin excello‘to rise’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellōWiktionary, Latin excellentia‘elevate, exult’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellēnsWiktionary, Latin excellentia‘elevated, exalted’present participle of excellō
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellentiaWiktionary, English excellency‘excellence, superiority’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excellencieWiktionary, English excellency
  7. EnglishtodayexcellencyWiktionary, English excellency

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kelH- ‘to rise’

hill, column, colonel, hale, culmination, holm, culminate, colonnade, columella, 10 more

through Latin excellō ‘elevate, exult’

excelsior, 2 more

Today it means

noun Synonym of excellence; the quality of being excellent.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “excellency”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin excello, Latin excellentia. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kelH- / excellency

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