Excellency

How to spell excellency

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce excellency

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does excellency mean?

1. nounA formal title of respect used for certain high-ranking officials such as ambassadors, governors, and senior clergy.

Excellency in a sentence

• The ambassador was addressed throughout the banquet as your excellency.

• The letter to the governor opened with a polite reference to his excellency.

Where does excellency come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin excellentia, meaning 'superiority' or 'outstanding merit', a noun built on the verb excellere, 'to surpass' or 'to rise above'. That verb combined ex-, meaning 'out' or 'up', with a root tied to celsus, 'lofty' or 'towering', so the literal image is of something standing up and out above the rest. It entered English in the 1300s by way of Old French excellence, at first describing abstract pre-eminence or remarkable quality. Over time the form 'excellency' settled into use mainly as a formal title of honour for high officials such as ambassadors, governors, and bishops, addressed as 'Your Excellency'. The double letter trap lives in the middle: the word keeps two c's and two l's, a direct echo of the Latin spelling. Its close cousins 'excel' and 'excellent' share the same towering root and the same doubled consonants.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, up)
• cell (from celsus/cellere: to rise high, tower)
• -ency (noun suffix denoting a quality or rank)