excerpt

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈɛkˌsɚpt/ UK /ˈɛksɜːpt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a short extract taken from a longer written or musical work

The magazine printed an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a short extract taken from... extract passage selection quotation snippet clip portion

Word family

Derived forms excerptedexcerpting

Related forms excerption

Simplified etymology

Excerpt, recorded from the mid-16th century, derives from Latin carpere, meaning “to pluck” or “pull to pieces.” Its underlying sense is “pull bits out.”

Etymology

From Latin excerptum ('something picked out'), neuter past participle of excerpere ('to pluck out, select'), from ex- ('out') + carpere ('to pluck, gather').

excerpere Latin carpere Latin *kerp- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# excerpt

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɛkˌsɚpt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɛksɜːpt/

## Meanings
1. a short extract taken from a longer written or musical work

## Examples
- The magazine printed an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir.

## Synonyms
- extract
- passage
- selection
- quotation
- snippet
- clip
- portion

## Derived Forms
- excerpted
- excerpting

## Related Forms
- excerption

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: excerpere
- Root: carpere
- Root: *kerp-

## Etymology
From Latin excerptum ('something picked out'), neuter past participle of excerpere ('to pluck out, select'), from ex- ('out') + carpere ('to pluck, gather').

## AI Etymology
Excerpt comes from Latin excerptum ('something picked out'), neuter past participle of excerpere ('to pluck out, select'), from ex- ('out') + carpere ('to pluck, gather'). Morphologically, the form is compositional: ex- marks part of the visible structure, while the remaining element supplies the lexical base. In present use, it is used as a noun and verb meaning "a short extract taken from a longer written or musical work", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as excerpted and excerpting and related forms such as excerption, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin excerpere, Latin carpere, and Proto-Indo-European *kerp-, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood includes extract, passage, selection, and quotation, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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