excerpt

[noun ek-surpt; verb ik-surpt, ek-surpt]

See more synonyms for excerpt on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

verb (used with object)

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

Origin of excerpt

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin excerptus (past participle of excerpere to pick out, pluck out), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + -cerp- (combining form of carpere to pluck) + -tus past participle suffix

Related formsex·cerpt·er, ex·cerp·tor, nounex·cerpt·i·ble, adjectiveex·cerp·tion, nounun·ex·cerpt·ed, adjective

Synonyms for excerpt

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1. selection, portion, section, part.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for excerpt

selection, fragment, passage, portion, piece, extract, quotation, cull, glean, saying, notation, quote, section, note, part, choose, pick, cite, select, pericope

Examples from the Web for excerpt

Contemporary Examples of excerpt

At that same conference in D.C. where she met Saa, Gurira performed an excerpt from Eclipsed.
Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira Vs. Boko Haram
Kristi York Wooten
November 30, 2014
Here, an excerpt from a new book that details her path to revenge and its unintended aftermath.
Mossad’s Greatest Female Assassin: An Excerpt From ‘Sylvia Rafael’
Ram Oren,   Moti Kfir
September 20, 2014
In an excerpt from his autobiography, he describes the reaction.
Rebels Rise Again Over Flag Banning
Robert Khayat
July 28, 2014
In an excerpt from 'What We Won,' the story of Abdul Rashid Dostum.
The Warlord Who Defines Afghanistan: An Excerpt From Bruce Riedel’s ’What We Won’
Bruce Riedel
July 27, 2014
In an excerpt from his ebook The Dudes Abide, Jeff Bridges and John Goodman meet the Dude and Walter for the first time.
The Stacks: The Day ‘The Big Lebowski’ Came to Life
Alex Belth
July 26, 2014

Historical Examples of excerpt

Grenfell and Hunt date the Gospel, from which it is an excerpt, about 200.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 8
Various
Mark the adjectives in this excerpt and use them in sentences of your own.
Plain English
Marian Wharton
The letter from which the excerpt is taken was written Feb. 13, 1895.
The Fiction Factory
John Milton Edwards
Was then this "excerpt charter" a forgery, or a genuine document?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 69, No. 427, May, 1851
Various
We should not now combine a Norse saga with an excerpt from a novel by George Meredith.
Ulysses
James Joyce

British Dictionary definitions for excerpt

excerpt

noun (ˈɛksɜːpt)

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

verb (ɛkˈsɜːpt)

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

Derived Formsexcerptor, nounexcerptible, adjectiveexcerption, noun

Word Origin for excerpt

C17: from Latin excerptum, literally: (something) picked out, from excerpere to select, from carpere to pluck

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for excerpt

early 15c. (implied in excerpte), from Latin excerptus, past participle of excerpere "pluck out, pick out, extract, excerpt," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + carpere "pluck, gather," from PIE *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (see harvest (n.)). Related: Excerpted; excerpting.

1630s, from Latin excerptum "an extract, selection," noun use of neuter past participle of excerpere (see excerpt (v.)). Related: excerpts.