English → Latin
“excellent” in Latin
ēgregiusdistinguished, excellent, eminent; illustrious, honorableeximiusselect, choice; special, particular, exceptional, remarkable, extraordinary; exemptpraeclārusvery clear or bright; famous; noble, excellentexcellōto elevate, raise up; to rise, elevate oneself; to exult, be elatedpraecellōto surpass, outdo; to excel (with per or ablative)praestōto be preferable, better, coupled with quam; to be outstanding, be exceeding in something, to excel, stand out, be superpraestābilispreeminent, distinguished, excellent; exaltedīnsignea distinguishing mark, emblem, badge; an ensign, an honour, a badge of honour; a coat of armsdīvīnusdivine, of a deity, superhuman, supernaturalbonusgood, honest, brave, noble, kind, pleasant; right; useful
The English word excellent itself goes back to Latin excellō, through excellēns.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
excellent
egregius: eximius (eximius, of what is distinguished above things of its own kind, all of which are good; egregius, of what is distinguished above things of its own kind, amongst which are good, bad, and indifferent; thus eximiae virtutes, ingenium, spes; but egregius poeta, not eximius [Cic., Or. 1, 3], there being many bad poets; Schultz): praeclarus (relates to the impression of admiration on the minds of others; to splendor, celebrity, etc.). (The words are found in this connection and order.) egregius ac praeclarus: eximius et praeclarus: excellens: praecellens: praestans: praestabilis (SYN. in To EXCEL): insignis (remarkable, for good or evil). (The words are found in this connection and order.) clarus et insignis (e.g., illius viri virtus, Cic.): divinus (very common as hyperbolical expression of excellence: divinus vir; homo in dicendo; orator, etc. Sometimes softened by quidam or paene): optimus (ironical).
Excellent! (in ironical answers) optime! (e.g., non me quidem, inquit, sed sapientem dico scire. Optime, nempe, etc., Cic., Ac., 2, 36, 115).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for excellent?
- The usual Latin words for “excellent” are ēgregius, eximius, praeclārus; also excellō, praecellō, praestō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.