Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Excel

Ex·cel′ (ĕk·sĕl′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Excelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Excelling.] [L. excellere, excelsum; ex out + a root found in culmen height, top; cf. F. exceller. See Culminate, Column.] 1. To go beyond or surpass in good qualities or laudable deeds; to outdo or outgo, in a good sense.

Excelling others, these were great; Thou, greater still, must these excel. Prior.

I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. Eccl. ii. 13.

2. To exceed or go beyond; to surpass.

She opened; but to shut Excelled her power; the gates wide open stood. Milton.

Ex·cel′, v. i. To surpass others in good qualities, laudable actions, or acquirements; to be distinguished by superiority; as, to excel in mathematics, or classics.

Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. Gen. xlix. 4.

Then peers grew proud in horsemanship t' excel. Pope.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.