Platt%upenn.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa (06/28/84)
From: Steve Platt <Platt%upenn.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> Since my copy of it is handy... you definition of excelsior is correct from the AHD, but you miss a few points: "excelsior" as wood shavings is a *noun*. The postnote for the definition says "[Originally a trade name, from Latin, comparative of excelsus, high, from the past participle of excellere, to EXCEL.]" The definition of "excel" is pretty much what you would expect it to be. There is no listing of when the trade name dates to, but the ship name of excelsior probably predates it, and probably refers more to its Latin roots than businessperson applications. In other words, people, it is an archaic adjective. Like "Defiant", etc. -steve