Exceed

How to spell exceed

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce exceed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exceed mean?

1. verbTo go beyond a set limit, amount, or expectation.

Exceed in a sentence

• The repair costs could exceed our entire budget for the year.

• Drivers who exceed the speed limit on this road face heavy fines.

Where does exceed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin excedere, meaning 'to go out' or 'to go beyond', formed from ex- 'out' and cedere 'to go' or 'to yield'. The same cedere root sits behind a whole family of English words, including proceed, succeed, recede, and concede, which is precisely why the spelling causes trouble. English borrowed exceed through Old French in the 1300s, when it carried the sense of going past a boundary or limit. Only three common English verbs keep the doubled -ceed ending (exceed, proceed, and succeed); most others from the same root take -cede, and the lone oddity supersede ends in -sede. Remembering that exceed belongs to that small -ceed club, alongside the idea of going beyond a set point, is the surest guard against writing 'excede'.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, beyond)
• -ceed (from Latin cedere: to go)