Where does “excel” come from?
Excel comes from Latin excello, formed from the prefix ex- and Latin ex, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European eǵ-.
excel (English): To surpass someone or something; to be better or...
Definitions
- To surpass someone or something; to be better or...
Ancestry of “excel”, step by step
excel traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin excello
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | excello | I elevate, raise up; I rise, elevate myself; I... |
| 2 | Latin | ex- | out, away; throughout; thoroughly |
| 3 | Latin | e | The name of the letter "E"; out of, from |
| 4 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 5 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 6 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 7 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 14 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 15 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 16 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via Latin excelsum
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | excelsum | nominative neuter singular of excelsus |