Wordwyrt

excellency

/ˈekˈslensi/EK-SLEN-see
/ˈɛkˈslɛnsi/EK-SLEN-see

Meaningthe quality of rising above

Common meaning: a title for high officials such as ambassadors

Journey through time

  1. Latinexcellere‘to raise’source
  2. Old Frenchexcellersource
  3. Englishexcel‘to be very good’
  4. Englishformed in English from excelexcellency‘a title for high officials such as ambassadors’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from excel + -ency.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), EXCEL, p.198 · scan

Source words

  • excellere Latin · source word “to raise”

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