Word forms: plural excerpts, past tense, past participle excerptedpronunciation note: The noun is pronounced (eksɜːʳpt). The verb is pronounced (eksɜːʳpt).
1. countable noun
An excerpt is a short piece of writing or music which is taken from a larger piece.
...an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. [+ from]
Synonyms: extract, part, piece, section More Synonyms of excerpt
2. passive verb
If a long piece of writing or music is excerpted, short pieces from it are printed or played on their own.
The following is excerpted from his journal. [beV-ed from n]
Synonyms: extract, take, select, quote More Synonyms of excerpt
excerpt in British English
noun (ˈɛksɜːpt)
1.
a part or passage taken from a book, speech, play, etc, and considered on its own; extract
verb (ɛkˈsɜːpt)
2. (transitive)
to take (a part or passage) from a book, speech, play, etc
Derived forms
excerptible (exˈcerptible)
adjective
excerption (exˈcerption)
noun
Word origin
C17: from Latin excerptum, literally: (something) picked out, from excerpere to select, from carpere to pluck
excerpt in American English
(ɛkˈsɜrpt; ɪksɜrpt; also, and for n., always, ˈɛkˌsɜrpt)
verb transitive
1.
to select, take out, or quote (passages from a book, sequences from a film, etc.); extract
noun
2.
a passage or sequence selected or quoted from a book, article, film, etc.; extract
Derived forms
excerption (exˈcerption)
noun
Word origin
< L excerptus, pp. of excerpere, to pick out, choose < ex-, out + carpere, to pick, pluck < IE *kerp- < base *(s)ker-, to cut, scrape > harvest
Examples of 'excerpt' in a sentence
excerpt
Firstly, the board excerpt below represents an endgame situation.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Here are key excerpts from his speech yesterday.
The Sun (2011)
See video excerpts of our investigation online.
The Sun (2011)
Look at the board excerpt below.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Here's an excerpt of the board.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It features more than 200 excerpts from published accounts and explains how these reflect on quality of management.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
If you can't wait until then, visit my website to read another excerpt from the book.
The Sun (2010)
In other languages
excerpt
British English: excerpt NOUN
An excerpt is a short piece of writing or music which is taken from a larger piece.
I was just reading an excerpt from the journal.
American English: excerpt
Brazilian Portuguese: trecho
Chinese: 摘录
European Spanish: extracto
French: extrait
German: Auszug
Italian: estratto
Japanese: 抜粋
Korean: 발췌문
European Portuguese: trecho
Latin American Spanish: extracto
Chinese translation of 'excerpt'
excerpt
(ˈɛksəːpt)
n(c)
(from text, film) 选(選)录(錄) (xuǎnlù) (本, běn)
(noun)
Definition
a passage taken from a book, speech, etc.
an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's `Nutcracker'
Synonyms
extract
He read us an extract from his latest novel.
part
A large part of his earnings went on repaying the bank loan.
piece
a piece of wood
Another piece of cake?
section
a geological section of a rock
selection
passage
He read a passage from the Bible.
portion
I have spent a large portion of my life here.
fragment
She read everything, digesting every fragment of news.
quotation
He illustrated his argument with quotations from Pasternak.
citation
The text is full of Biblical citations.
pericope
(verb)
Definition
to take a passage from a book, speech, etc.
The readings were excerpted from his autobiography.
Synonyms
extract
material extracted from a range of texts
take
a passage taken from a talk she gave ten years ago
select
They selected only bright pupils.
quote
Then suddenly he quoted a line from the play.
cite
She cites a favourite poem by Pablo Neruda.
pick out
cull
All this information had been culled from radio reports.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of citation
Definition
a quotation
The text is full of Biblical citations.
Synonyms
quotation,
quote (informal),
reference,
passage,
illustration,
excerpt
in the sense of cite
Definition
to bring forward as proof
She cites a favourite poem by Pablo Neruda.
Synonyms
quote,
name,
evidence,
advance,
mention,
extract,
specify,
allude to,
enumerate,
adduce
in the sense of cull
Definition
to choose or gather
All this information had been culled from radio reports.