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excel - 6 dictionary results

ex⋅cel

[ik-sel] verb, -celled, -cel⋅ling.
–verb (used without object)
1. to surpass others or be superior in some respect or area; do extremely well: to excel in math.
–verb (used with object)
2. to surpass; be superior to; outdo: He excels all other poets of his day.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME excellen < L excellere, equiv. to ex- ex- 1 + -cellere to rise high, tower (akin to celsus high)


2. outstrip, eclipse, transcend, exceed, top, beat. Excel, outdo, surpass imply being better than others or being superior in achievement. To excel is to be superior in some quality, attainment, or performance: to excel opponents at playing chess. To outdo is to make more successful effort than others: to outdo competitors in the high jump. To surpass is to go beyond others, esp. in a contest as to quality or ability: to surpass one's classmates in knowledge of corporation law.
ex·cel   (ĭk-sěl')   
v.   ex·celled, ex·cel·ling, ex·cels

v.   tr.
To do or be better than; surpass.
v.   intr.
To show superiority; surpass others.

[Middle English excellen, from Latin excellere; see kel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to be or go beyond a limit or standard. To excel is to be preeminent (excels at figure skating) or to be at a level higher than another or others (excelled her father as a lawyer). To surpass another is to be superior in performance, quality, or degree: an athlete surpassed by none.
Exceed can refer to being superior (an invention that exceeds all others in ingenuity), to being greater than another (a salary exceeding 70 thousand dollars a year), and to going beyond a proper limit (exceed one's authority). Transcend often implies the attainment of a level so high that comparison is hardly possible: Great art transcends mere rules of composition.
To outdo is to excel in doing or performing: won't be outdone in generosity.
Outstrip strongly suggests leaving another behind, as in a contest: a case of the student outstripping the teacher.

Excel

Ex*cel"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Excelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Excelling.] [L. excellere, excelsum; ex out + a root found in culmen height, top; cf. F. exceller. See Culminate, Column.]

1. To go beyond or surpass in good qualities or laudable deeds; to outdo or outgo, in a good sense.

Excelling others, these were great; Thou, greater still, must these excel. --Prior.

I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. --Eccl. ii. 13.

2. To exceed or go beyond; to surpass.

She opened; but to shut Excelled her power; the gates wide open stood. --Milton.

Excel

Ex*cel"\, v. i. To surpass others in good qualities, laudable actions, or acquirements; to be distinguished by superiority; as, to excel in mathematics, or classics.

Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. --Gen. xlix. 4.

Then peers grew proud in horsemanship t' excel. --Pope.
Language Translation for : excel
Spanish: aventajar, superar,
German: sich auszeichnen,
Japanese: 抜きんでる

excel 
c.1408, from L. excellere "to rise, surpass, be eminent," from ex- "out from" + -cellere "rise high, tower," related to celsus "high, lofty, great," from PIE base *kel-/*kol- "to rise, be elevated" (see hill).
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