par excellence meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

par excellence

adv

UK /ˌpɑːɹ ˌɛksəˈlɑːns/ · US /ˌpɑr ˌɛksəˈlɑn(t)s/

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).

Because 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

Most 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:

In a superior way, in the most representative or fully-developed manner.

She was par excellence the vigilant member of the house-hold.1877, William Worthington Fowler, Woman on the American Frontier, page 99:

Synonyms: pre-eminently, supremely, above all

par excellence

adj

› Most excellent, variously intending

Postpositional Being 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. 61
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. 114

Postpositional Being a quintessential example of a general type.

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:
The mathematical reason has long been regarded as the reason par excellence.1845, Edgar Allan Poe, “The Purloined Letter”, in Tales, page 212:

Synonyms: proper