excerpt

American  

[ek-surpt, ik-surpt] / ˈɛk sɜrpt, ɪkˈsɜrpt /

noun

1. a passage or quotation taken or selected from a book, document, film, or the like; extract.

   Synonyms:

   part, section, portion, selection

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verb (used with object)

1. to take or select (a passage) from a book, film, or the like; extract.

2. to take or select passages from (a book, film, or the like); abridge by choosing representative sections.

excerpt British  

noun

1. a part or passage taken from a book, speech, play, etc, and considered on its own; extract

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verb

1. (tr) to take (a part or passage) from a book, speech, play, etc

Other Word Forms

• excerpter
  noun
• excerptible
  adjective
• excerption
  noun
• excerptor
  noun
• unexcerpted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of excerpt

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin excerptus “picked out,” past participle of excerpere “to pick out, pluck out,” from ex- ex- ¹ + -cerpere, combining form of carpere “to pluck”

Explanation

Instead of sharing all 147 lines of your favorite poem in class, you might want to read an excerpt, that is, just a part of the verses, so no one dozes off. Excerpt sounds a lot like "except" with an added "r," and it came into English in the 16th century from a Latin word meaning "plucked out." When the word is used as a verb, excerpt means to take a portion out, usually from a play, book, article, song, or other written work. And the part that is taken out also is called an excerpt, but it is a noun, that is, a thing. An excerpt is something you excerpt, or pluck out, from a larger piece.

Example Sentences

Excerpt from “What would feminist data look like?”

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2018

Excerpt from “That ‘No Quit’ Attitude” by Waddie Mitchell: I could see he’s gone through battle for his pony’s sportin’ lather but his smile claimed he’d made it in with everything he’d found.

From New York Times • Sep. 26, 2018

Excerpt: Reasonable people can disagree with the policy merits of the ban, legally, morally, politically and strategically.

From The Guardian • May 11, 2017

Excerpt from Joy-Ann Reid’s new book ”Fracture: Obama, the Clintons, and the Democratic Divide,” out now from William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.

From MSNBC • Sep. 10, 2015

Excerpt from a letter Pap wrote to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Sawyer, sometime in 1930.

From Epistles from Pap: Letters from the man known as 'The Will Rogers of Indiana' by Hay, Douglas (Douglas N.)

Related Words

• extract
• fragment
• passage
• piece
• portion
• quotation
• selection