excel vs transcend

excel and transcend both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
excel	No	No	Yes	No
transcend	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, transcend is a hyponym of excel; that is, transcend is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than excel:

Other hyponyms of excel include exceed, go past, overstep, pass, top, outrank, rank, excel at, shine at.

excel (verb)	transcend (verb)
distinguish oneself	be greater in scope or size than some standard
	be superior or better than some standard