excerpt

1 of 2

noun

ex·​cerpt ˈek-ˌsərpt  ˈeg-ˌzərpt 

: a passage (as from a book or musical composition) selected, performed, or copied : extract

excerpt

2 of 2

verb

ex·​cerpt ek-ˈsərpt  eg-ˈzərpt  ˈek-ˌsərpt  ˈeg-ˌzərpt 

excerpted; excerpting; excerpts

transitive verb

1

: to select (a passage) for quoting : extract

2

: to take or publish extracts from (something, such as a book)

excerptor noun

or excerpter

excerption

ek-ˈsərp-shən 

eg-ˈzərp-

noun

Synonyms of excerpt

Noun

• quotation
• extract
• passage
• clip
• citation
• snippet

Examples of excerpt in a Sentence

Noun

Among the excerpts and Twitter feeds and author interviews … there was the actor Will Smith praising The Alchemist as one of his favorite books. —Gregory Cowles, New York Times Book Review, 18 Oct. 2009

When his [Thomas Jefferson's] wife Martha died in 1782, he wrapped a lock of her hair with a scrap of paper containing an excerpt from the couple's favorite novel, Laurence Sterne's comic masterpiece, Tristram Shandy, and stashed the token in his desk. —Walter Kim, Time, 5 July 2004

The exemplary figure here is Norman Mailer, whose 1959 Advertisements for Myself is the height of writerly chutzpah. The book, comprising excerpts from his journalism and fiction, descriptions of the agonies he went through to produce them and obsessive reviews of his reviewers, is so shameless it's admirable. —Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review, 17 June 2001

… I also keep a pad by the side of my bed for writing down great thoughts at night without having to turn on the light. In the morning, these great thoughts sound like excerpts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. —Bill Cosby, Time Flies, (1987) 1988

She read an excerpt from the play.

I've read only excerpts of Moby-Dick, never the whole book.

Verb

The fiction that the magazine does publish is too often excerpted from novels or imminently forthcoming collections, making the magazine seem more a flack for publishers than a site of editorial strength and vision. —Vince Passaro, Harper's, August 1999

How quickly does the Net move? Last Friday journalist Michael Colton posted an elaborate Web parody of the forthcoming magazine Talk, which is owned by Miramax and helmed by former New Yorker editor Tina Brown. Within hours, the site's URL had ricocheted about in countless e-mails, and the Drudge Report had excerpted the text. —Newsweek, 26 July 1999

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

An exclusive excerpt published by Decibel centers on Cave In and the period surrounding the band’s breakthrough Jupiter, when major labels began circling. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 18 Sep. 2026

The latest Piker rhetorical bomb El-Sayed had to dodge was the streamer’s assertion in an interview with Axios, excerpts of which were posted Thursday, that the United States is more of a fomenter of terrorism than al-Qaeda. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026

Verb

This is excerpted from The Adaptability Quotient by Alec Litowitz. — Alec Litowitz, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026

The photographs of Hall and Spector’s home, excerpted exclusively in Vogue, show a space full of art, including Hall’s own paintings. — Anna Grace Lee, Vogue, 11 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Latin excerptum, noun derivative from neuter of excerptus, past participle of excerpere "to pick out, select, choose (a passage from a text for quotation)" — more at excerpt entry 2

Verb

borrowed from Latin excerptus, past participle of excerpere "to pick out, select, choose (a passage from a text for quotation)," from ex- ex- entry 1 + carpere "to pluck, gather" — more at harvest entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1627, in the meaning defined above

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

excerpt

1 of 2 verb

ex·​cerpt ek-ˈsərpt  eg-ˈzərpt 

ˈek-ˌsərpt, 

ˈeg-ˌzərpt

1

: to select for quoting

2

: to take excerpts from

excerpt

2 of 2 noun

ex·​cerpt ˈek-ˌsərpt  ˈeg-ˌzərpt 

: a part taken from a longer work

read an excerpt from the play