Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɛɡzɜː(p)t/, /ɛɡˈzɜː(p)t/[1]
  • US: /ˈɛɡzɝ(p)t/, /ɛɡˈzɝ(p)t/[1]

Etymology

The verb is borrowed from Latin excerptus (“picked out”), the past participle of excerpō (“to pluck out, pick out, select”),[2][3][4][5][6] formed from ex- (“out”) and carpō (“to pluck, gather”),[3][4][7][8] with the vowel of carpō changed in the compound.[6][9] Etymonline traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *kerp- (“to gather, pluck, harvest”),[3][5] the root of harvest.[4][8] It was perhaps partly developed from the earlier English past participle excerpte (“taken from a book”).[4][3] The noun is borrowed from Latin excerptum (“an extract, selection”), the neuter of excerptus used as a noun,[2][3][7][10] though Barnhart allows that in some cases it is the verb used as a noun.[4] *excarpsus (“picked out”), the past participle of *excarpō, an altered form of excerpō, is the source of scarce.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a past participle, "excerpted, taken out of a book": in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon, probably composed before 1425.[2][4][3] The verb proper, "to pick out passages", is first recorded about 1536, in a letter of Cardinal Wolsey.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the Latin literal sense "to pluck out, remove" for a time (1552–1631), but its lasting sense was to pick out and quote passages from a written work.[2] The noun, a passage taken from a book or manuscript, follows before 1638, in Joseph Mede,[2][4][3] and was extended to passages of music and other works.[12][10] From 1883 an excerpt was also an article from a learned society's Transactions printed separately, an offprint, a sense now rare.[2][10] Since the 1970s the verb has also meant to publish excerpts from a book, especially one not yet out, in a newspaper or magazine.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – excerpte, taken from a book (past participle).[4][2]
  • c. 1536 – verb, to pick out and quote passages.[2][4]
  • 1552 – verb, to pluck out, remove (obsolete by 1631).[2]
  • before 1638 – noun, a passage taken from a book; an extract.[2][4]
  • 1883 – noun, an offprint.[2][10]
  • 1976 – verb, to publish excerpts from a book in a periodical.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A passage or short part taken from a book, speech, film or piece of music: The choir sang an excerpt from the oratorio.[13][12][2]
  2. (rare) An offprint of an article.[2][10]

Verb

  1. To take out a passage from a larger work in order to quote or reproduce it; to extract: The editor excerpted three letters for the anthology.[13][12][2]
  2. To publish excerpts from a book in a newspaper or magazine.[2]

Word family

  • excerption
  • excerpter
  • excerptible

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins