n. | 1. | The quality of being excellent; state of possessing good qualities in an eminent degree; exalted merit; superiority in virtue. |
2. | An excellent or valuable quality; that by which any one excels or is eminent; a virtue. | |
3. | A title of honor or respect; - more common in the form |
Noun | 1. | excellence - the quality of excelling; possessing good qualities in high degree |
2. | excellence - something in which something or some one excels; "the use of herbs is one of the excellences of French cuisine" |