par excellence
/ˌpɑr ˌɛksəˈlɑn(t)s/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.81 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
adv
Most excellently, variously intending
adv
Most excellently, variously intending
Example Sentences
- "The name of Venus is in deede but bautye, And men me fayrest call, per excellencye."
- "He was par excellence a theologian."
- "She was par excellence the vigilant member of the house-hold."
- "The Santo (which is St. Antonio's church, called il Santo par excellence) […]"
- "At one time they were twenty-four in number; but Holland (1812) and Hughes (1814) found them reduced to ten; at Curzon's visit (1834) there were only seven; and in 1853 not more than four of these were inhabited by more than two or three monks. Meteora par excellence is the largest and perhaps the most ancient."
- "This is the age of invention, most certainly—the age, one may say—the age par excellence."
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French par excellence (“excellently, in an especially representative way; above all”), a calque of Latin per excellentiam, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κατ’ ἐξοχήν (kat’ exokhḗn).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: per excellentiam, κατ' ἐξοχήν
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌpɑr ˌɛksəˈlɑn(t)s/
- British English: /ˌpɑːɹ ˌɛksəˈlɑːns/