excerpt
[ noun ek-surpt; verb ik-surpt, ek-surpt ]
/ noun ˈɛk sɜrpt; verb ɪkˈsɜrpt, ˈɛk sɜrpt /
Save This Word!
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.
QUIZZES
WERE YOU BAMBOOZLED BY THE WORDS FROM FEBRUARY?
We understand! Words are tricky that way. Take this quiz on the Words of the Day from February, 2021, to show that you’re far from frumious!
Question 1 of 10
Which Word of the Day means “happening within or being the created world of a story”?
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
OTHER WORDS FROM excerpt
ex·cerpt·er, ex·cerp·tor, nounex·cerpt·i·ble, adjectiveex·cerp·tion, nounun·ex·cerpt·ed, adjectiveWords nearby excerpt
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for excerpt
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 forms of excerpt
excerptor, nounexcerptible, adjectiveexcerption, nounWord 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