Definition of "eximious"

You've read the death of Hercules,In classic tale related;But there the facts of his deceaseErroneously are stated:Each schoolboy will at large reciteFast as his Alphabeta,How that eximious man of mightDeparted on Mount Eta.

1850, “The Hercules Cheap Paletot”, in Punch, volume 18, page 38

Eximious is a delicious word, meaning, outstanding.

2002, A.S. Byatt, A Whistling Woman, Vintage International, published 2004, page 115