Meanings
- not comparableBecause or on account of one's excellence.
The name of Venus is in deede but bautye, And men me fayrest call, per excellencye.
1584, George Peele, The Araygnement of Paris, ii, i - Most excellently, variously intending
- not comparableMost especially, in particular, most notably (out of a thing or person's other attributes, roles, etc.).
He was par excellence a theologian.
2009, John Murray, “Introduction”, in John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion
- Most excellent, variously intending
- not comparablepostpositionalBeing the proper or truest example of a general name.
The Santo (which is St. Antonio's church, called il Santo par excellence) […]
1695 (published 1845), Earl of Perth, Letters, p. 611 more example
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.
1883, "Meteora" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XVI, p. 114Synonyms: proper
- not comparablepostpositionalBeing a quintessential example of a general type.
The mathematical reason has long been regarded as the reason par excellence.
1845, Edgar Allan Poe, “The Purloined Letter”, in Tales, page 2121 more example
This is the age of invention, most certainly—the age, one may say—the age par excellence.
1839 August, Edgar Allan Poe, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, page 68
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBeing the proper or truest example of a general name.
most excellently
Origin
- Ancient Greekκατ’ ἐξοχήν
- Latinper excellentiam
- Frenchpar excellence“excellently, in an especially representative way; above all”
- Englishpar excellence
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).
More words from French, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κατ’ ἐξοχήν
- κατ’ ἐξοχήν (kat’ exokhḗn)being a quintessential example of a general type
Bulgarian па́рексела́нс
- па́рексела́нс (párekseláns)being a quintessential example of a general type
Catalan per antonomàsia, per excel·lència
- per antonomàsiabeing a quintessential example of a general type
- per excel·lènciabeing a quintessential example of a general type
Dutch bij uitstek
- bij uitstekbeing a quintessential example of a general type
Finnish loistava, par excellence
- loistavabeing a quintessential example of a general type
- par excellencebeing a quintessential example of a general type
German par excellence, schlechthin
- par excellencebeing a quintessential example of a general type
- schlechthinbeing a quintessential example of a general type
Greek κατ’ εξοχήν
- κατ’ εξοχήν (kat’ exochín)being a quintessential example of a general type
Italian per eccellenza
- per eccellenzabeing a quintessential example of a general type
Polish par excellence
- par excellencebeing a quintessential example of a general type
Spanish por antonomasia, por excelencia
- por antonomasiabeing a quintessential example of a general type
- por excelenciabeing a quintessential example of a general type
Swedish framför alla andra, par excellence
- framför alla andrabeing a quintessential example of a general type
- par excellencebeing a quintessential example of a general type
Cite this entry
par excellence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/par%20excellence
“par excellence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/par%20excellence. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “par excellence,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/par%20excellence.
Source: par excellence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.