Excel

English

Verb

Excel (third-person singular simple present Excels, present participle excelling, simple past and past participle excelled)

1. (transitive) To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something.

   I excelled everyone else with my exam results.

2. (intransitive) To be much better than others.
   • 1924: ARISTOTLE. Metaphysics. Translated by W. D. Ross. Nashotah, Wisconsin, USA: The Classical Library, 2001. Available at: <http://www.classicallibrary.org/aristotle/metaphysics/>. Book 1, Part 2.

     If, then, there is something in what the poets say, and jealousy is natural to the divine power, it would probably occur in this case above all, and all who excelled in this knowledge would be unfortunate.

Adverbs for Excel

unexpectedly; conspicuously; immeasurably; peculiarly; intrinsically; individually; comparatively; marvelously; surpassingly; materially; unusually; trivially; matchlessly; supremely; dramatically; genuinely; consistently; exceedingly.

Thesaurus

be born for, be master of, beat, best, better, cap, dominate, eclipse, exceed, go beyond, go one better, improve on, outdo, outpace, outrank, outshine, outstrip, outweigh, overbalance, overbear, overcome, overpass, overshadow, overtop, perfect, predominate, preponderate, prevail, shine, shine in, surpass, top, tower above, tower over, transcend, trump

Etymology

Latin excellere, excelsum; ex out + a root found in culmen height, top; Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column.

Translations

transitive: to surpass someone or something

Czech: překonat (cs) Esperanto: superi (eo) Estonian: ületama (et) Finnish: olla parempi French: dépasser (fr) German: ausstechen (de), übersteigen (de), übertreffen (de) Hungarian: felülmúl (hu), túltesz (hu) Italian: superare (it)

Japanese: 超える (ja) (koeru), 越える (ja) (koeru) Nahuatl: tlamiauati Portuguese: superar (pt), ultrapassar (pt), exceler (pt) Russian: превосходить (ru) (prevosxodít’) Simplified Chinese: 超越 Spanish: aventajar (es), superar (es) Swedish: överglänsa (sv)

intransitive: to be much better than others

Czech: vynikat (cs) Dutch: uitblinken (nl) Esperanto: superi (eo) Estonian: hiilgama (et) Finnish: loistaa, olla erittäin hyvä French: dépasser (fr) German: sich hervortun Hebrew: הצטיין (he) (hitztayén)

Hungarian: kimagaslik (hu), kiemelkedik (hu), jeleskedik (hu), kitűnik (hu) Italian: superare (it) Japanese: 超える (ja) (koeru), 越える (ja) (koeru) Portuguese: distinguir-se (pt) Russian: выделяться (ru) (vydelját’s’a) Simplified Chinese: 擅长 Spanish: sobresalir (es), distinguirse (es) Swedish: excellera (sv), briljera (sv)

References

• Excel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913