Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Excellent in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels excellent as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
Excellent

[F. excellent, L. excellens, -entis, p. pr. of excellere. See Excel.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordexcellent
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[F. excellent, L. excellens, -entis, p. pr. of excellere. See Excel.]
Selected historical definitionExcelling; surpassing others in some good quality or the sum of qualities; of great worth; eminent, in a good sense; superior; as, an excellent man, artist, citizen, husband, discourse, book, song, etc.; excellent breeding, principles, aims, action.
Signed record IDwebster1913-excellent-adjective-e82e70346333
Source locatorCIDE.E, paragraph 7379; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "excellent" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. excellent, L. excellens, -entis, p. pr. of excellere. See Excel.]" The selected historical definition says: "Excelling; surpassing others in some good quality or the sum of qualities; of great worth; eminent, in a good sense; superior; as, an excellent man, artist, citizen, husband, discourse, book, song, etc.; excellent breeding, principles, aims, action."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released E records

Every card owns a different source record and historical sense.

adverb

Even

[AS. efne. See Even, a., and cf. E'en.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Example

[A later form for ensample, fr. L. exemplum, orig., what is taken out of a larger quantity, as a sample, from eximere to take out. See Exempt, and cf. Ensample, Sample.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

English

[AS. Englisc, fr. Engle, Angle, Engles, Angles, a tribe of Germans from the southeast of Sleswick, in Denmark, who settled in Britain and gave it the name of England. Cf. Anglican.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Event

[L. eventus, fr. evenire to happen, come out; e out + venire to come. See Come.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Enjoy

[OF. enjoier to receive with joy; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. & F. joie joy: cf. OF. enjoir to enjoy. See Joy.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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