pre-ˈexcellence rare.
[f. pre- A. 5 + excellence; cf. F. préexcellence (Montesquieu, 16th c.), prob. repr. a med.L. *præexcellentia, f. *præexcellens: see next. (L. had præcellentia.)]
Pre-eminent excellence. So pre-ˈexcellency.
| 1459 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 270 Be all lawis, the law of nature has prerogatyf, and preexcellence. 1603 Florio Montaigne i. l. (1632) 164 A rare preexcellencie, and beyond the common reach. Ibid. ii. xii. 255 Without any prerogative or essentiall preexcellencie. |