[ noun ek-surpt; verb ik-surpt, ek-surpt ]
/ noun ˈɛk sɜrpt; verb ɪkˈsɜrpt, ˈɛk sɜrpt /
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.
Words nearby excerpt
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 excerptex·cerpt·er, ex·cerp·tor, nounex·cerpt·i·ble, adjectiveex·cerp·tion, nounun·ex·cerpt·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for excerption
a part or passage taken from a book, speech, play, etc, and considered on its own; extract
(tr) to take (a part or passage) from a book, speech, play, etc
Derived forms of excerptexcerptor, 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