excellence

UK/ˈɛksələns/US/ˈɛksələns/

nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,143 of 15,258leans written

Excellence is the quality of being outstandingly good. A pursuit of excellence, academic excellence, a centre of excellence.

It is institutional language: centre of excellence, excellence in teaching, awards for excellence — and heavy use has worn it thin. Par excellence is a French phrase meaning above all others and comes after the noun: the example par excellence. Note excel, which takes at or in; and Your Excellency, which is the formal address for an ambassador and a governor.

Definitions of excellence

1nounexcellenceThe quality of being outstandingly good.C1
“The school has won awards for excellence in science teaching.”

excellence is a quality of being outstanding.

Where it comes from

Latin excellentia comes from excellere, to rise above — ex- plus a root meaning to be high. Excel, excellent and excelsior all descend from it, and excelsior means higher still.

Latin
excellentia
Old French
excellence
Middle English
excellence
English, today
excellence

From Middle English excellence, from Old French excellence, from Latin excellentia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Big Ideas

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excellence in the wild

Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, the Department honored high-performing schools and schools that were making great strides in closing any achievement gaps between students.
National Blue Ribbon Schools Program
To their great excellence and the wisdom of their conception they owe their place of esteem in the ceremonial worship of the gods.
The Ten Books on Architecture· Vitruvius Pollio

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

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