Excels

Excels is a verb form in English: the third-person singular present tense of the verb excel. It means to be exceptionally good at something or to surpass others in performance or achievement. It can describe ongoing excellence in a skill, field, or task.

Etymology: The word derives from Latin excellere “to rise up, surpass,” passing into English through Old French and Middle English before becoming the modern form excel, with the present tense form excels.

Usage: It is commonly followed by the prepositions in or at to indicate domain: “she excels in mathematics” or “he excels at chess.” It can also be used with the reflexive pronoun to mean to perform better than one’s own previous best: “she excelled herself.” The term is widely used in both formal and informal contexts to describe notable ability or achievement.

Capitalization and disambiguation: When referring to the Microsoft spreadsheet program, the proper noun Excel is capitalized. In contrast, excels as a verb is lowercase and used within ordinary sentence construction. The two terms are related only by spelling, not meaning, and context determines the intended sense.