excerpt

American  

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

noun

• excerpts
  plural

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

   Synonyms:

   part, section, portion, selection

---

verb (used with object)

• excerpts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• excerpted,
  past participle,  past
• excerpting
  present participle

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

---

verb

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• excerpts
  plural

Participles

• excerpting
  present
• excerpted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• excerpt
  simple
• excerpts
  simple
• have excerpted
  perfect
• has excerpted
  perfect
• am excerpting
  progressive
• are excerpting
  progressive
• is excerpting
  progressive
• have been excerpting
  perfect progressive
• has been excerpting
  perfect progressive

Past

• excerpted
  simple
• had excerpted
  perfect
• was excerpting
  progressive
• were excerpting
  progressive
• had been excerpting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will excerpt
  simple
• will have excerpted
  perfect
• will be excerpting
  progressive
• will have been excerpting
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

excerpt excerpts excerpted excerpting

The Canadian director is also the last voice you hear on Music, Fashion, Film, in an excerpt of an "hour-long" conversation he had with Charli last year,.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

In early June, the Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from Vance’s latest memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” which is officially released tomorrow.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

An excerpt of their conversation about Thomas and Alito’s dissents, below, has been edited for length and clarity.

From Slate ● May 15, 2026

Each tile plays a short excerpt and the full title can be accessed on the Audible app.

From Barron's ● May 2, 2026

Take this excerpt from a 340-word soliloquy in a novel by Rebecca Goldstein.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Alternating with these vignettes are lengthy excerpts from M’s bohemian heyday of 2023—three journals and a short screenplay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

In her 70s, Castañeda testified before state legislators about her experience, excerpts of which appear in the exhibition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

At the center of the research are previously overlooked excerpts from a lost papal letter preserved in a medieval collection of canon law in the Vatican.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

Paul released excerpts from said diary earlier this week.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026

Though there was little new news, Elisha’s influential family and friends supplied the newspapers with excerpts from his letters to keep his name in the public eye.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

A portion of their conversation, edited and condensed for clarity, has been excerpted below.

From Slate ● May 12, 2026

This interview was excerpted from Artists in Space by Mr. Wash, available to order on Feb. 16.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026

Raman’s campaign produced a video ad that heavily excerpted Bass’ remarks endorsing her at a Sherman Oaks get-out-the-vote rally.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2026

These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron’s, were issued recently by investment and research firms.

From Barron's ● Dec. 6, 2025

Mullen examined the tapes and excerpted all references to the candidates, until he had 37 separate segments, each roughly two and a half seconds long.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Cowley worked his magic again in launching Jack Kerouac’s career, spending years talking up and excerpting “On the Road” in magazines before publishing the 1957 Beat touchstone with Viking to immediate acclaim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

Prosecutors leaned heavily on exchanges between Leopold and Edwards, excerpting from messages that suggested the relationship overstepped the traditional bounds of reporter and source.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2021

It approaches the text in ways both abstract and overly literal, sometimes excerpting entire paragraphs.

From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2020

Even at 82, Steinem says the experience taught her something: “It made me understand the dangers of excerpting a few words.”

From Time ● May 5, 2016

With this in mind he read countless authors of different ages and countries, a total of around 50,000 epigrams, from most of which nothing at all was worth excerpting.

From An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in which from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting Epigrams by J. V. (James Vincent) Cunningham

Related Words

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