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excellences

[ek-suh-luhns]

Origin

noun

the fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence: his excellence in mathematics.

an excellent quality or feature: Use of herbs is one of the excellences of French cuisine.

(usually initial capital letter) excellency (def. 1).

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin excellentia. See excel, -ence

Related forms

su·per·ex·cel·lence, noun

Synonyms
1. preeminence, transcendence, distinction. 2. merit, virtue.

Antonyms
2. inferiority.

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Excellences is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural -cies.

(usually initial capital letter) Also, Excellence. a title of honor given to certain high officials, as governors, ambassadors, and Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops (preceded by his, your, etc.).

(usually initial capital letter) a person so entitled.

(usually initial capital letter) the title of the Governor General of Canada while in office.

Usually, excellencies. excellent qualities or features.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English excellencie < Latin excellentia. See excellent, -ency

Related forms

su·per·ex·cel·len·cy, noun, plural -cies.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To excellences

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

excellency

"high rank," c.1200, from L. excellentia (see excellence); as a title of honor it dates from early 14c.

EXPAND

excellence

late 14c., from Fr. excellence, from L. excellentia, from excellentem (see excellent).

COLLAPSE

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"Though I am not much acquainted with the works of Goethe, I should say that it was one of his chief excellences as a writer, that he was satisfied with giving an exact description of things as they appeared to him, and their effect upon him. Most travelers have not self-respect enough to do this simply, and make objects and events stand around them as the centre, but still imagine more favorable positions and relations than the actual ones, and so we get no valuable report from them at all. In his "Italian Travels" Goethe jogs along at a snail's pace, but always mindful that the earth is beneath and the heavens are above him. His Italy is not merely the fatherland of lazzaroni and virtuosi, and scene of splendid ruins, but a solid turf-clad soil, daily shined on by the sun, and nightly by the moon. Even the few showers are faithfully recorded. He speaks as an unconcerned spectator, whose object is faithfully to describe what he sees, and that, for the most part, in the order in which he sees it. Even his reflections do not interfere with his descriptions."

-Henry David Thoreau

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