excel
/ɪkˈsɛl/verb
excel is spelled E-X-C-E-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, excel means “To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in excel?
| Letters | 5: E-X-C-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.4 times per million words; the 10,680th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is excel?
Excel appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce excel?
- /ɪkˈsɛl/
- /ɛkˈsɛl/
Excel has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-excel.wav, En-ca-excel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of excel
- excels present, singular, he/she/it
- excelling participle, present
- excelled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does excel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something.
I excelled everyone else with my exam results.
- 2
To do much better than usual.
Everyone agreed Magnus really excelled himself this tournament.
- 3
To be much better than others.
- 4
archaicrareTo exceed, to go beyond.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Excel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | surpasser , exceller |
| German | ausstechen, übersteigen, übertreffen , sich hervortun, herausragend sein |
| Portuguese | superar, ultrapassar, exceler , distinguir-se |
| Spanish | aventajar, superar, bordar , sobresalir, distinguirse, destacarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does excel come from?
From Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).