English
excellent
Excellent comes from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns ‘rising, elevated’, present participle of excellō ‘to rise, raise up’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelH- ‘to rise’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelH-1‘to rise’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelnō2‘to rise’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellō2‘to raise up; to rise’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellēns2‘rising, elevating’present participle of excellō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400excellent2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excellent2
- Englishearliest quotation 1616–1618excellent2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin excello
- 2 Wiktionary, English excellent
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1616–1618, John Fletcher, The Queene of Corinth: “Their sorrows are most excellent.”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelH-Wiktionary, Latin excello‘to rise’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelnōWiktionary, English excellent‘to rise’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellōWiktionary, English excellent‘to raise up; to rise’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcellēnsWiktionary, English excellent‘rising, elevating’present participle of excellō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400excellentWiktionary, English excellent
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excellentWiktionary, English excellent
- Englishearliest quotation 1616–1618excellentWiktionary, English excellent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1616–1618, John Fletcher, The Queene of Corinth: “Their sorrows are most excellent.”
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’
Today it means
adj Having excelled, having surpassed.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “excellent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin excello. 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- / excellent