distinction vs excellence

distinction

noun
  • Specifically, a feature that causes someone or something to stand out as being better; a mark of honour, rank, eminence or excellence; being distinguished. 

  • That which distinguishes; a single occurrence of a determining factor or feature, the fact of being divided; separation, discrimination. 

  • The act of distinguishing, discriminating; discrimination. 

excellence

noun
  • An excellent or valuable quality; something at which any someone excels; a virtue. 

  • The quality of being excellent; brilliance 

  • Something in which one excels. 

How often have the words distinction and excellence occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )