different between excellent vs kindly

English

Etymology

From Middle English excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excell?ns (“elevated, exalted”), present participle of excell? (“elevate, exult”), equivalent to excel +? -ent.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??ks?l?nt/, /??ks?l?nt/

Adjective

excellent (comparative excellenter or more excellent, superlative excellentest or most excellent)

1. Having excelled, having surpassed.
2. Of higher or the highest quality; splendid.

   • A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.

3. Exceptionally good of its kind.

4. Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality.
   • 1754-1762, David Hume, The History of England

     Elizabeth, therefore, who was an excellent hypocrite

   • Their sorrows are most excellent.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:excellent

Antonyms

• poor
• terrible

Derived terms

• excellence
• excellently
• excellentness

Related terms

• excel

Translations

Adverb

excellent (comparative more excellent, superlative most excellent)

1. (obsolete) Excellently.
   • , New York Review Books 2001, p.287:

     Lucian, in his tract de Mercede conductis, hath excellent well deciphered such men's proceedings in his picture of Opulentia […].

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch excellent, from Middle French excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excell?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k.s??l?nt/
• Hyphenation: ex?cel?lent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Adjective

excellent (comparative excellenter, superlative excellentst)

1. (formal) excellent, splendid

   Synonyms: uitmuntend, uitstekend

Inflection

Related terms

• excellentie

French

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin excellens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k.s?.l??/

Adjective

excellent (feminine singular excellente, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentes)

1. excellent; splendid

Usage notes

This adjective is generally placed before the noun it modifies.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k.s?l/

Verb

excellent

1. third-person plural present indicative of exceller
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of exceller

Further reading

• “excellent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

excellent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of excell?

Middle French

Noun

excellent m (feminine singular excellente, masculine plural excellens, feminine plural excellentes)

1. excellent

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin excell?ns.

Pronunciation

Adjective

excellent m (feminine singular excellenta, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentas)

1. excellent

Related terms

• excelléncia
• excellir

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?ka?ndli/

Etymology 1

From Middle English kyndely, kyndeliche, from Old English cyndel?? (“natural, kindly”); equivalent to kind +? -ly.

Adjective

kindly (comparative kindlier, superlative kindliest)

1. Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic.

   • The shade by which my life was crossed […] has made me kindly with my kind.

2. (dated) Favourable, gentle, pleasant, tidy, auspicious, beneficent.
3. (archaic) Lawful.
4. (obsolete) Natural; inherent to the kind or race.

   • the kindly fruits of the earth

   • November 5, 1609, Lancelot Andrewes, A Sermon Preached before the King's Majesty at Whitehall

     Whatsoever as the Son of God he may do, it is kindly for Him as the Son of Man to save the sons of men.

Derived terms

• kindlily
• kindliness
• kindly tenant
• unkindly

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English kyndly, kyndely, kyndeliche, kundeliche, from Old English ?ecyndel??e, equivalent to kind +? -ly.

Adverb

kindly (comparative more kindly, superlative most kindly)

1. In a kind manner, out of kindness.
2. In a favourable way.
3. Used to make a polite request: please.
4. (US) With kind acceptance; used with take.

5. (dialectal) Kind of, somewhat.
6. (archaic) Readily.
7. (obsolete) Naturally.

Usage notes

• (please): Kindly is used in a slightly more peremptory way than please. It is generally used to introduce a request with which the person addressed is expected to comply, and takes the edge off what would otherwise be a command.
• (with kind acceptance): This sense is a negative polarity item; it is usually found in questions and negative statements, as in the above example sentences.

Synonyms

• (in a kind manner): thoughtfully
• (used to make polite requests): be so kind as to, please

Derived terms

• take kindly

Translations

Further reading

• “kindly”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).