extant
Americanadjective
-
in existence; still existing; not destroyed or lost.
There are only three extant copies of the document.
-
Archaic. standing out; protruding.
adjective
-
still in existence; surviving
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archaic standing out; protruding
Usage
Extant is sometimes wrongly used simply to say that something exists, without any connotation of survival: plutonium is perhaps the deadliest element in existence (not the deadliest element extant )
Other Word Forms
- nonextant adjective
Etymology
Origin of extant
1535–45; < Latin ex ( s ) tant- (stem of ex ( s ) tāns ) standing out, present participle of exstāre, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + stāre to stand
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet many musicians long considered the roughly 220 extant cantatas of J.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
What Metcalfe knows of the Blundys’ life together can be gleaned from the 12 extant volumes of Vivien’s journals.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
You could see details in saddles and costumes, and the building were still extant.
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2024
"They are the first artefacts collected by the British from any part of Australia, that remain extant and documented," he said.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2024
He instantly recognized that the bones did not belong to any extant species and hence must be very old.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
