extant

adjective

ex·​tant ˈek-stənt How to pronounce extant (audio) ek-ˈstant How to pronounce extant (audio)
ˈek-ˌstant
1
a
: currently or actually existing
the most charming writer extantG. W. Johnson
b
: still existing : not destroyed or lost
extant manuscripts
2
archaic : standing out or above

Examples of extant in a Sentence

There is, he reports, no extant copy of the Super Bowl I television broadcast; nobody bothered to keep the tapes. Joe Queenan, New York Times Book Review, 1 Feb. 2009
First produced in the spring of 472 BC, Persians is noteworthy in the corpus of the thirty-two extant Greek tragedies in that it is the only classical Greek drama that dramatizes an actual historical event. Daniel Mendelsohn, New York Review, 21 Sept. 2006
[George] Lucas' brain teemed with plots and characters, exotic creatures, worlds to be spun out of the words and sketches in his notebooks. Also, by numbering the extant episodes IV, V and VI, he was implicitly promising a prequel trilogy … Richard Corliss, Time, 9 May 2005
There are few extant records from that period. one of the oldest buildings still extant
Recent Examples on the Web As the Alliance for Automotive Innovation has already made plain, the Biden administration substituting its own decisions for those of carmakers would put those carmakers in a very difficult spot given the lack of extant supply options that aren’t from China. John Tamny, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 Curiously, approximately 180 Writing Balls were produced, with only 35 machines extant, and this lot represents one of the five not currently owned by museums. New Atlas, 10 Sep. 2024 Those contributing extant works include Land artist Nancy Holt (1938–2014) and James Turrell, whose light installation Ganzfeld Apani, created in 2011 for the Venice Biennale, will be situated in a trailside pavilion within walking distance from Powder Mountain’s main parking lot. News Desk, Artforum, 16 Aug. 2024 The research team also found that Y. yuanshi, which existed during the Cambrian Explosion (when most of the main animal groups started to appear on the fossil record), has certain features in common with extant arthropods, such as crabs, velvet worms, and tardigrades. Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 11 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for extant 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'extant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin exstant-, exstans, present participle of exstare to stand out, be in existence, from ex- + stare to stand — more at stand

First Known Use

1545, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of extant was in 1545

Dictionary Entries Near extant

Cite this Entry

“Extant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extant. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

extant

adjective
: existing at the present time : not destroyed or lost

More from Merriam-Webster on extant

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